Sometimes bad things happen, and nobody knows if its an accident or fate. Amidst Anon-a-Miss one such event happens, leaving students and princesses in grief. Yet, where one fire is extinguished, somewhere, another one is lit ablaze.
The last week before winter break begins, as an entire school plunges itself into chaos, fueled by spoiled secrets and long-held hatred. For everyone it is a countdown 'till freedom, while they wait and will the time to run faster. For one particular girl, this countdown becomes the only lifeline she can find, to withstand the toture that school has become.
Yet amidst this reign of terror, one single accident of uncorrelated nature echoes like thunder through the halls. A thunder that leaves ashes behind and the students to pick them up and move on.
Yet where one fire burns out, in another place, another small flame lights up.
=0=
Death-tag is because it will be talked about and sometimes also described in some way. Profanity-tag is just to be sure ;) Also if any other tags have to be added please tell me.
Please point out any grammatical errors and stuff that you can find, it would really help. Just as criticism
So yeah, enjoy!!
(Also I do NOT own ANYTHING, except the profile and my computer/laptop. MLP-Universe, characters are all owned by Hasbro) Cover Art is made by me, so I guess I won't need to worry about that. Thats good I guess
Winter had come to Canterlot. The entire city was covered in a light snow blanket, turning everything a soft and uniform white. Christmas was only ten days ahead, and everywhere you looked decorations transformed buildings and shops in colourful little lakes of light. Traffic lessened within the snow-filled streets, replaced in many with young children playing in the snow. It was the Monday of the week before christmas, for many the last week of work or school to be done.
It was Monday, and Sunset was already so done with the entire week. So fucking done, already!
And the day wasn’t even halfway over.
This had to do with the simple fact that the entire High School was currently turning on itself. The entire student-body was falling apart like a bunch of starved animals. Students who were once greatest friends broke into arguments and seperated themselves in the span of a few days.
Greatest friends.
Just like the Rainbooms.
This time, the cause of all this turmoil and disharmony wasn’t magic or years of careful manipulation and deceit.
No, it was all because of a fucking social media website.
An account on MyStable that had made a habit of posting secret pictures and more from the CHS students. The effect was immediate and really, really effective.
It had started on thursday the week before. From then on, posts had appeared on a regular basis.
Now, on monday, the entire school was slowly destroying itself because it it.
The first posts had been, relatively, harmless. Centered mainly around the members of the group known as the Rainbooms. Except Sunset Shimmer conviently. It had been mostly embarrassing pictures or small secrets, like Applejacks childhood nickname.
Over the weekend however, it quickly expanded to the rest of the student body, and the posts became even more mean, some could only be described as brutal, if only because of the results they caused.
For most students, CHS became something akin to a warzone since monday.
For Sunset Shimmer, it became Tartarus on Earth. Not because there were posts targeting her. Quite the opposite.
For three years Sunset had been the Queen Bee of CHS, ruling over everyone with an iron fist. She had turned them all on eachother with blackmail, threats and carefull manipulation. Everybody remembered this well.
Everybody knew the fact that Sunset had tried to take control of them, first with manipulation, then with magic.
And now, everybody knew this fact.
Sunset Shimmer had returned to her old ways.
Everbody knew she was behind all this mess, again.
Everybody knew that Sunset Shimmer was Anon-a-Miss.
And her friends? They were the first to commit to this new believe, simply cutting off their friendship even before the first bell had rung on monday. All of this because of some petty secrets thrown out by some internet persona.
It was so ironic that Sunset felt the need to laugh about herself, but sadly her sides hurt too much to do that.
Someone had slammed her into the lockers on her way to the next lesson. Not that hard, but it was painful nonetheless. Sunset wasn’t sure who did it, basically everyone either gave her hateful glares, worse or just coldly ignored her. If she were to guess though, it would be Lightning Dust, since she had rounded the corner rather fast and one of the latest posts had been about her.
Luckily that had been the first real physical attack on her, for now. By the current rate things were falling down though, she already dreaded what could happen until Friday.
And she would have to face it all on her own, since…
Well…
If Sunset was honest, her break-up with the Rainbooms had been worse than everything she experienced since then and before, even though it had been rather civil. At least they didn’t call her a she-demon. Yet. Instead they had simply left her, standing in the school corridors, surrounded by the first students who cast hateful glares and words at her.
"Ah honestly thought y’all changed, really Ah did. But it seems like we were wrong.“
"After all we did together? You just turn back to this? I thought we were supposed to be friends, Sunset!“
"Darling, this has gone too far already. What are you trying to achieve by doing something so petty?“
"Why would you suddenly do this Sunset? Why now?“
It wasn’t like she did not plead with them. Or tried to explain why she wouldn’t have done it. But to no awail. Applejack's nickname went public only hours after she herself had heard about it, while having a sleepover with the others on Wednesday. The same had happened with pictures of Rarity’s clothing failures collection or whatever she called them. There were made with Sunset’s phone and ta-da!
Online only two hours after their creation.
Well, it wasn’t like she couldn’t understand why they reacted like this.
She had tormented them all in some cruel way, for three years.
Even if she was so obviously being framed, with the matching colours of the profile pic, the choice of words under each picture and the before-mentioned first posts, they wouldn’t believe her.
Some wounds went too deep and were too fresh to allow rational thougths.
It didn’t help that some posts contained secrets that Sunset had gathered in her time as Queen Bitch of CHS. And the students they belonged to recognized them as such, after already being blackmailed with them. Those were also usually the worst of the secrets to be spread.
And it all came back down on Sunset.
Karma really seemed to be an utter Bitch. Just like she herself had been.
Sunset was never really good with human history. For a long time she had trouble understanding the concept of a cold war. Decades of human history had been marked by the shadow of all out war and doom for the entire planet, two powers ready to jump at eachothers throat. Just waiting for a small slip-up, one reason to rip each other to shreds.
The CHS cafeteria, seemed to be a somewhat fitting example.
The tension was unbearable. Several small groups tried to ignore most of the ongoing conflicts, to weather the storm and pull through break. Others seemed to wait for the next bit of juicy gossip to be shared, like predators looking for any weakness in a herd of cattle.
Of course, there were some conflicts already happening. The, so-called, flower-girls were having an argument. From the looks of it, another group of friends was dying... supplied by the taunting applause and taunts from the vultures that surrounded the trio. And anyone could be next.
Sunset sat alone in one of the corners, the one nearest to the entrance to be exact.
It was Tuesday now. Just like expected, the school's situation had gotten even worse.
Sunset’s tactic was simply to get through the remaining week by means of simply enduring it. Then she could try and ask Twilight if she may spend the holidays in Equestria. Although she was pondering the, hopefully viable, solution of just leaving Terra mid-week.
By now Sunset was beginning to prefer the prospect of facing Celestia over this.
A collective ping, and a closely following cry broke her train of thoughts. Another post from Anon-a-Miss. By the sound not a good one.
Sunset sighed and checked her phone. She was starting to consider simply leaving it deactivated at home. The contacts to each of the Rainbooms had been blocked, by them, for now, and MyStable was nothing but more secrets and hateful messages. There were even public chats filled with people insutling her.
This time, Anon-a-Miss had outdone themself. In a very bad way.
The picture was of a gruesome good quality. You were perfectly able to see Octavia Melody’s drunken face, as she pressed a kiss on her partner’s lipps, Vinyl Scratch. There were coming out of one of Canterlot’s bars alongside their friends, a few bottles still in hand. They were obviously in different states of drunkeness. They looked happy.
Sunset groaned. This was bad.
A glance towards the newest victim confirmed her prediction. Octavia looked absolutely devastating, before rushing out of the cafeteria through the side entrance. Her friend Bon Bon was quick to follow her. Vinyl didn’t look any better, although she gave Sunset a very unsettling death glare.
While the overall reaction to this new post was nothing more than a lot of whistles and stupid phrases, Octavia’s friends knew the hard truth. Sunset did as well, it was the very reason she had used it for blackmail after all.
Octavia’s parents were wealthy and conservative. They actually reminded Sunset of the Equestrian nobility. The bad kind. Now that this little piece of gossip was made official, it was simply a matter of time until it reached Mr. and Mrs. Melody. And then, Tartarus would come for Octavia.
It wouldn’t just be the fact that Octavia had kissed another girl, oh no. It was that Octavia had been drunk, leaving a club, while practically clinging and kissing another girl. Vinyl Scratch of all people. From all that Sunset knew, the Melody parents would never accept the fact that their daughter was with a mute musician from lower upbringing, especially a DJ of the modern times.
When Sunset had confronted Octavia with the photo, she had been surprised by the formal girl‘s absolute horrified expression, and Sunset had known the gist about her parents and their view on things. She just didn’t imagine it could have been that bad.
Not like she had cared a lot back then.
Sunset sighed and stood up, bringing her halfway-filled tray back and leaving the cafeteria as quickly as possible.
She just hoped that Octavia would survive the impending meeting with her parents.
The rest of Tuesday seemed to blurr together for Sunset, it was just more of the same. Glares, shoves, hateful words snapped at her. More arguments she had to pass by. Nothing special. Nothing important, not anymore.
That was why she wasn’t prepared for her locker.
Someone had actually managed to break into it. Either that or they knew her code, somehow.
All her books, materials, even her winter coat, everything had suffered. Dirt and litter filled the space. Paper had been torn, some even looked slightly burned. Her schoolbooks had lost their covers, the pages were unreadable. The coat had been torn in multiple places, one arm was missing, and the pockets were full of… Whatever it was, it smelled horrible.
Sunset just stood there for a couple of minutes, not able to fully comprehend the scene. The locker door, which already had sported several scribblings was now covered in every single spot.
She-Demon
Anon-a-Bitch
Fuck off!
Monster
YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING!
What made Sunset snapp out of her state of shock was the realization that she had left her magic journal in the locker. Rushing forward she desperately tried to find it or atleast some leftover in the pile, not caring for the smell or the dirt.
But the book was nowhere to be found.
When Sunset realized what this meant, that her journal, a gift from Celestia and her only connection to home was indeed lost, she stopped.
The first tears started to form in her eyes, and she couldn’t muster the will to hold them back. Her body went numb and she slumbed down on the floor.
After an uncertain amount of time, she finally stood up. The hallways were mostly empty now, almost everyone had gone by, no one had even tried to help her.
And so, Sunset made her way towards her small apartment, without her coat or her books, without her journal. Through the snow and the cold.
She couldn’t talk to Twilight anymore.
The portal would stay closed.
The only person she could consider a friend was now unreachable.
Sunset was now truly alone.
Fluttershy coudn’t sleep.
No matter what she did, all the usual methods she had tried, nothing.
That image was simply burned into her mind and she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Angel had already relocated after she had accidentally hit him for the third time. It must have been hours since she went to bed and still no signs of sleep.
Fluttershy didn’t want to take sleeping pills, she didn’t trust them, but slowly she lost her mind.
That sound haunted her. Made her stomach wrench.
When she pressed her eyes shut she could still see it, see her. See Sunset before her, that look of defeat in her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her belongings destroyed and covered in dirt and garbage.
Fluttershy snapped her eyes open. And SHE had just walked away.
Now the guilt was eating her alive.
Fluttershy tossed and turned over in her bed again.
She should have helped Sunset, even just by comforting her. Sunset had been completely alone, without anyone to hold onto. Fluttershy shouldn’t have just walked away, she should have…
No.
Sunset didn’t deserve her comfort, she was Anon-a-Miss, she was responsible for all of this.
Or was she really?
Sunset before her, that look of defeat in her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Fluttershy groaned again and clutched her head, desperately trying to force the image out of her head.
Her belongings destroyed and covered in dirt and garbage.
She put her arm around her mouth, stiffling a pained whimper.
And she had done nothing.
Pain shot through her body. The image seemed to vanish from her mind, enough that she could think clearly again. Slowly, Fluttershy opened her eyes again, to see where this pain had come from. She found the answer almost immediately
Her teeth had somehow burrowed themselves into her left arm. Luckily the bite wasn’t that deep, but it still hurt and a bit of blood began to escape her body.
Fluttershy got up and stumbled into her private bathroom, where she kept most of her first aid components. After taking care of the small wound she sat on her bed again, unsure what to do now. If she tried to sleep the images would return and she would go mad.
So she picked up her phone and dialed.
"I do hope you know how early it is.“ A tired and clearly bed-ridden voice asked through the phone.
"S-Sorry Rarity. I-I need to talk to you.“
"Fluttershy?“ A yawn went through the connection. „What is it darling, can’t you sleep?“
Fluttershy clenched her free fist nervously, she was already feeling uncomfortable but this was important. "U-Um yes. Well… I can’t stop thinking about… You know, S-sunset.“
"Oh dear. I know how that must make you feel, this whole affair is simply disastrous!“
"W-well, that was what I-I wanted to talk about.“
"I wish I could understand her Fluttershy, I really do! But why she would just go and start this, it is beyond me-“
"SHE DIDN’T DO IT!“ Fluttershy immediately covered her mouth with her free hand and listened. No movement in the house. Everything, even her phone, was silent. "I-I mean, I d-don’t think s-she did.“
"H-How so dear? I mean, it is not like I want her to be it but… Everything points towards her, doesn’t it?“
"Y-yes but, why would she decide to do it now? NOW of all times. I… I don’t know Rarity.“, Fluttershy said whilst trying to stop her body from shaking. "This just feels wrong. This IS wrong and I know it.“
There was another silence. Only Rarity’s controlled breathing made it through the phone.
"I saw her, today, at the end of school. I saw her Rarity! All her things were destroyed, and her locker was broken open a-and… She was crying. She just sat there, completely still and yet she was crying so much. H-how can she have caused this when she has to suffer this?“
Her body trembled like a leaf in the wind. Tears of her own formed against her will, and she let them go without resistance. When Rarity spoke again her own voice was filled with sadness and something else, regret.
"Oh Fluttershy, I am so sorry.“
"So, do you believe me?“
There was another short pause before the answer.
"Yes, I… I do believe you and what you said dear.“ Rarity gave a sad chuckle. „We have all been such blind fools, haven’t we? We gave a promise to Twilight, yet we threw Sunset away at the first slight possibility that she might cause harm again. We just abandod her when she needed us most.“
"W-we have to speak to her Rarity!“ Fluttershy said with new determination. „First thing tomorrow, we will seek her out and tell her that we are sorry, that we don’t believe she is Anon-a-Miss, and we are going to help her stand through this!“
"Well said, darling, truly well said. But please do me a favor and try to get some rest, okay? You will need it for tomorrow. We all will.“
After giving Rarity her promise, Fluttershy ended the call and stared at the cealing for an entire minute.
Yes, tomorrow she would help Sunset no matter what, even if the whole school would harass her for it. She owed it to Sunset.
Surprisingly, Fluttershy actually managed to sleep, although the images still haunted her minds.
But she could bear them now.
Monday had been bad.
Tuesday was even worse.
But Wednesday was already topping it all.
Sunset hadn’t even arrived at the school before the first incident happened. Someone had tagged her apartment door with red paint.
She-Demon inside!!!
The day before she had almost sunken into some kind of depression. Now she was just angry at everything.
On the way to school, a car had stopped beside her for a short moment, which was enough time for one of the passengers to lung a plastic sack filled with something at her. It had exploded on impact, covering her with brackish water. Then the car drove away, leaving her soaked and stinking on the pavement.
Luckily for Sunset, this had happened only a couple of blocks from her apartment, meaning she just stormed back, changed her clothes and started the walk to school again.
This of course resulted in her being late, something Sunset actually didn’t mind.
As she passed the Wondercolt mascot, several snowballs suddenly flew towards her, and more than half of them found their target. Sunset gasped as her faces received two projectiles and exploded in pain. She could see the shards of ice and small rocks on the ground that had been mixed with the snow projectiles.
The attackers had already scurried away from where ever they had started the assault.
Sunset carefully touched her face. It hurt like a bitch, but no blood seemed to leak out.
Still, those small assaults started to wear more and more on her mind. And the day continued to spiral down even more as school started. Of course Sunset was late, not that she cared at this point.
The hallways were as unbearable as they always were. More than once, Sunset was shoved into the hard rows of metal lockers. The pain only further fueled her anger, just like the insults thrown at her. Between her first and second period while she was trying to get through the corridors, Sunset thought she had heard a familiar voice call her name.
But she just brushed it of as her imagination running wild, especially since it had sounded like Rarity. She still accelerated to get to her next period, her thoughts returning to the Rainbooms before she willed them to stop.
As second period ended, Sunset mind had slowly started to boil. Someone had thrown a wet sponge at her and now her jacket had chalkdust clinging onto it.
Even though the memory agravated her temper even further, the destruction of her school material spared her the trip to the locker, which meant less time needed to be spent in the hallways.
Sunset was currently spearheading towards the library, she had a free period now. Her mind slowly started to calm down a bit as she looked foward to the well-kept silence between books.
"Sunset! We need to talk to you!“
Of course! I can’t have a little respite today, can I? No, everybody just is so keen to piss me of today!
Sunset walked even faster towards her goal, the library, her only chance for a break. She could hear the person behind her calling her name again, and again. But still she pressed onward, trying to get away from them, away from everyone.
Only two more hallways! Almost…
As she rounded a corner, Sunset saw herself confronted with the distinct frame of Gilda Grimfeather before her.
For a moment, Sunset was stunned by Gilda’s visage, anger and rage clearly visable. Then Gilda moved, sinking her fist into the amber-skinned girl’s abdomen with enough force to completely knock the air out of Sunset’s lungs.
Sunset snapped for precious oxygen, her mind thrown of entirely, and so she couldn’t perceive two hands moving on her hips. After only a few seconds, those hands withdrew, only for Gilda’s knee to jump upwards straight into the other girl’s guts. Sunset fell foward onto all four, just as another kick sent her into the wall. A loud crack echoed through the hallway and Gilda stomped off.
The rest of the Students had just watched the violence unfold before them, certainly shocked but not ready to step in.
Finally, Sunset got herself together enough to try to stand up, only for her boots to emit a crunching sound. As she lifted her foot away to see what she stepped on, Sunset could make out the remains of her phone. Its glass facade was everywhere and the hardware broken beyond repair.
Sunset’s face betrayed almost no emotion, but her insides were on fire in more than one sense. Her lungs were straining to properly fill themself with much needed air. All the sore places, from all the received shoves into metal lockers, the spots where the ice shards had hit her, her entire body had flared up again in pain. Ironically, her mind was rather devoid of any thought or emotion. In this moment, only her instict was active. Like a voice telling her to move towards the library and thus safety from any further harm. And her body actually managed to act and get a few more steps closer to her sanctuary.
"Sunset! Are you ok?!“ Fluttershy shouted as she came to a halt besides the Equestrian, reaching out with an arm to steady her.
As soon as her fingertips made contact with the other girl however, something inside of Sunset changed drastically. Her instinct, the small soft voice that had urged her body to ignore the pain and move on, was overpowered by rage.
Pure, unbrideled rage.
"Will you FUCK OFF!“ Sunset’s hand slapped the offered hand away. Meanwhile, Rarity had managed to reach them through the growing crowd of bystanders who watched the events passively.
"Sunset, please, listen to us for a moment!“, she begged the pony she had once considered a friend.
But this only seemed to aggravate Sunset even more.
"Really?! I have to LISTEN to YOU now?! I don’t remember you listening to ME when I pleaded for it.“
Sunset tried to walk away from her former bandmates, towards the library. Her stomach churned and her head suddenly felt like it was torn apart and pressed together at the same time. As Sunset stumbled foward, Fluttershy and Rarity were quickly by her side and managed to steady her.
"Easy, Darling! Lets get you to the library.“, Rarity said as they attempted to help the other girl foward.
"I don’t need your help.“ Came Sunset’s slurred response. "Fuck off.“
But still they helped her move foward, through the crowd of students. Expressions of disgust, anger and morbid curiosity looked at Sunset, their eyes felt like needles drilling into her skull. Her field of view narrowed down in front of her, growing dark all around.
The constant whisper filled her ears. Then the sea of faces seemed to part, and at the end was the goal. The library. They were so close, only one corridor away from some sort of peace.
Suddenly, Sunset’s brain convulsed, her skin felt unbearibly hot, her dazed mind became sharp once more and adrenaline pulsed at rapid speed through her veins. Much like before her entire body went from numb to tense, only this time it was even more extreme.
Pain and anger flared up in tandem, even greater than before. The red-head instantly pulled backwards and ripped herself out of Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s arms.
The fashionista was the first to recover, she turned and raised her hands in a placatory gesture.
"Please Sunset, we are almost there. Just a few more steps and you will be safe, I promise.“
Sunset snapped her head towards Rarity. Her voice was starting to crack under the strain it suffered. "You PROMISE? Like the promise you gave Twilight? How long did that last before you decided to abandon be?! After I did everything to redeem myself, you just cut me off like this. Tell me one, ONE good reason, why I should trust you?“
Rarity opened her mouth then immediately closed it again. Fluttershy just gave a sad, yet pleeding smile. For a moment silence reigned in the corridor, the other students had formed a sort of half cycle around the three girls and none dared to interrupt the heated exchange.
Throughout the silence, only Sunset’s heavy breathing could be heard.
"That's it? No lecture of friendship, no remark on our happy memories?“ As Sunset took breath to continue her rant, something happened inside her. A feeling, uncomfortable and strange filled her in seconds. All the rage that she had felt moments before faded away. In its stead, an almost electric sensation jolted throughout every nerve. It wasn't as bad as the pain, which had passed in the background to nothing more than a throbbing.
This change didn’t go unnoticed on the people around her.
"Darling, are you alright? You look a bit-“ But as she tenderly reached out with her hand, it was almost immediately snapped away.
"D-don’t you DARLING me, Rarity. If no one has anything else to say, j-just leave me alone already.“
"Sunset…“
"W-WHAT?!“
As Sunset snapped towards Futtershy, the timid girl pointed a small, shaking finger at her.
"Y-you’re b-bl-bleeding.“
Indeed, a singular droplet of deep crimson liquid trickled out of the red head’s nose. Before it reached her mouth, it was intercepted by an amber hand. Sunset just looked at the stain. Her eyes rose to the other two girls, her bloodied finger raised as if to say something to them.
Then she suddenly lurched over in a coughing fit, one of her hands holding her stomach while the other covered the mouth.
Time seemed to freeze. Slowly, blood began to seep out between the fingers.
"S-Sunset?“
No response came, as the girl went limp, and fell to the ground.
"SUNSET!!“
And the hallway descended into chaos.
Fluttershy immediately rushed foward, Rarity close behind her. After several seconds of shock, a couple of students began running towards the principal’s office. Another one slammed open the door to the library and started searching for Miss Cherilee. One of the female students, who had just yelled at others to go get help, pulled out her phone and started typing the emergency number. Others were backing away from the center, while most were still in shock. Rarity didn’t perceive anything of it. Her eyes were glued at the horrific sight before her.
Sunset Shimmer was surrounded by a crimson puddle, her own blood seemingly mixing with her hair, leaving only a few strands of gold in a sea of red, as if by cruel design. Her limbs were racked by spasms, her body convulsing uncontrollably in painful movements. Blood painted her face, spilling from her wide open mouth, flowing out of her nose and her ears in constant streams, leaking out from her eyes like crimson tears, all adding up onto the floor. No word, no scream escaped her, just choked moans and gurgles. Her mind was ablaze, a burning divide splitting it into two.
She couldn’t feel the hands trying to hold her stable.
Couldn’t see Rarity’s face, pale and shocked.
Couldn’t hear Fluttershy yelling her name, repeatedly.
Only pain.
Only crimson.
Only... herself.
-oOo-
As the school came to a close for the day, the students began to filter out. A strange atmosphere reigned over them like dark storm clouds. No one was happy in any way. Those who had witnessed the accident had to recount it to others and before the next break had even started, everyone knew what had happened.
Some where more struck by it then others, but to the benefit of the student body, nobody was satisfied with what happened to the hated girl.
Among the students who made their way home were the Rainbooms. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were still attempting to comfort the other two girls, while trying to process the news themselves. Rarity couldn’t stop shaking, while Fluttershy needed to rely on Rainbow to walk in a straight line.
"So… What should we do now?“ Pinkie asked uncertain, her usual smile vacant and her hair a mixture between bubbly and completely flat.
"No idea.“ Rainbow mumured. "Maybe visit her in the hospital? Its not far from here, just on the other side of the Everfree River."
"I-I don’t think s-she would w-ant to see u-us.“ Fluttershy clung to her friend as if her life depended on it. A small tear trickled down her cheek as memories of what happened came up again.
"I... I agree with Rainbow. We let her down so far, and yes she is still hating us for that, but we need to be there for her. We owe her this much atleast." Rarity said, clutching her hands together to hold them still, while looking her friends in the eyes. Rainbow gave a strained grimace, yet her eyes also held determination. Beside her, Fluttershy wiped her face clean, trying to hold herself steady. Pinkie managed to produce a small smile. "Maybe we can make things right again," she whispered.
"Eh, girls?!“ The rest of the group looked to Applejack, who pointed to something on the other side of road. A police car. Two officers had already crossed the street and were approaching the school building.
Through its doors, Principal Celestia rushed out and hurried towards the two policemen, a worried look on her face.
"I really, really hope they have good news.“ Rainbow said, although she didn’t look like she really believed it herself.
The officers and the principal met, while the Rainbooms and other students were carefully walking closer. One of the policeman took of his uniform hat and said a few quiet words to Celestia.
Twilight stared at the stone in front of her. She hadn’t been to a place like this very often, even less because of personal reasons. She didn't like the atmosphere, the stillness that surrounded her. Everything seemed so calm, so detached from the world.
It was still hard to accept it. She sighed and placed the flowers in her hand on the grave.
Snow crunched beneath boots, as Twilight turned to look she could see Pinkie Pie walking between the rows of graves in her direction. Twilight’s brow furrowed. The changes Pinkie had undergone were very obvious to those familiar with the girl. Her hair had been completely straight ever since the funeral, so she had pulled it into a simple and utilitarian ponytail. Her face lacked the joyous energy, instead she had an unusual calmness about her.
It took her about a minute to reach Twilight, but even then neither of them talked for a while. When they did, no eye contact was made.
"How is Fluttershy?“
Pinkie sighed. "Well, they released her from the hospital yesterday. She is still very shaky, but I think it is getting better. It's just slow.“
"How?“
The party girl finally looked up at the princess.
"How did it happened? Why did she…“
"We don’t know. Nobody knows.“ Pinkie produced something from her coat and placed it in a small jar with others of its kind. A small, yet beautiful red and golden flower made entirely from paper with artistic talent. "Nobody will ever know, I guess.“
Pinkie slightly shook her head with a sad expression. "From what I could get out of Rarity and the others, she just suddenly started bleeding a lot and fell over. No one has any idea what it could be. Not that it would matter, really.“
"I know Pinkie, I was here for the ‘funeral‘. I just don’t understand. First this… Anon-whatever disaster, than this, than the accident on the bridge. Why did all of this had to happen to her?“ Finally Twilight shifted her gaze towards the pink girl.
"I read the news article, Pinkie. Six times. And while I don’t know a lot of technology and those 'cars', I don’t think they just explode randomly.“
"Well, again, nobody knows what happened. I am sorry.“
Twilight grimaced and began walking away, only to stop as Pinkie spoke up again.
"My apologies, Twilight, but I need to know. Do you hate us? It's ok if you do, I understand and I think the others would too.“
"I am still mad, Pinkie. But I have more important things to do." The princess from the mirror turned and looked into Pinkie's eyes. Where before she had seemed just like another teenager, so young and dorky, now she radiated cold authority. Pinkie tried not to shrink under the gaze of a being, she only now truly felt was far more powerful than any of them. Then Twilight reached into her coat.
Pinkie was honestly shocked to see the leatherbound book with the red and golden sun, the same sun that was on the grave marker next to them. And she was even more shocked when Twilight held it out in front of her. Like she was handing it to Pinkie.
"I assume you know what this does?" Pinkie nodded numbly, Sunset had told them the gist of it.
"I... I thought it was gone." she stammered. Her shaky hands reached out and tentatively grasped the old tome.
"It was. Until the culprits decided to try and leave it out in the open, so I could find it without knowing who it was. Unfortunately for them, I found out anyway. The only good thing is that the journal remained unharmed, guess they knew it was important to her and me, not that that prevented me from chewing them out for it. For now you will take care of it. The journal stabilizes the connection of our two worlds, if any more news come up or an emergency happens you can contact me through it." With that said, Twilight whirled around and marched away and towards the graveyard's exit. Though she did stop for a moment at the end of the row of graves.
"Maybe I will give you girls another chance, one day. But right now I can't, I‘m both too busy and too full of grief to do so. Goodbye.“
Pinkie gave a small wave towards the lavender girl, calling after her "Thank you Twilight! See you hopefully soon!", then she looked at the gravemarker before her.
"I am sorry, Sunset. I hope you’re at peace now.“
A blur of voices was filling her ears, so many people talking wildly at the same time. All around her was constant movement, so much that no singular body could be perceived. Everywhere, except in front of her.
A sea of red, growing larger by the second, supplied by a steady stream from the amber and red girl. She was lying on the ground, no movement except a twitch here or there.
Her face…
Oh goodness, why was her face so clearly visible? Why did it have to look to her?
She couldn’t get her eyes to look away from the ones of the bleeding form on the ground. Blood was seeping out of those once so lively teal orbs, flowing down the cheeks like tears.
Eyes that were staring right at her.
Why did you do it? they seemed to say. This is all your fault!
She couldn’t move, could not do anything as those eyes pierced her soul, as those words became louder and louder in her mind, clear for her to hear over the rest of the chaos around her.
"After everything I did.“
"This is all your fault!“
"Why did you abandon me?!“
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!“
Rarity fell out of her bed, her night gown soaked to the bone with sweat. For a moment she remained in an uncomfortable position, her breath labored, her head recovering from the shock.
Then she fully collapsed to the ground and began to sob uncontrollably.
She didn’t know how long she remained like this, but eventually there were no more tears to be shed. How could there be any left at all? How could she even had some to begin with? So many had already been lost in this one single week.
A glance at the clock revealed that the fashionista had woken hours before the sun would rise. Briefly the desire to go back to bed crept into her mind, but she quickly pushed it away. There was no way a peaceful sleep would be granted to her, she knew, so she might as well get ready and do something.
After all, today she had to be presentable. They were going to hold the funeral ceremony. If you could even call it a funeral, when there was nothing left of... No, she couldn't dwell on that right now.
So she went into her bathroom for a shower. The warm water helped with the sweat, but only a little with her thoughts. Soon enough, Rarity stood before the mirror in her bathroom. Her purple hair was a wet mess and big eye bags indicated that today had been no singularity.
As she opened the mirror cabinett above the sink, Rarity’s view immediately shifted towards a small bottle containing certain pills. For a moment, the desire to use them emerged only to be squashed immediately.
Was it simple stubbornness? The fear of losing control and plummeting down into a spiral of addiction?
Or was it guilt, mixed with some twisted sense of self-punishement?
Rarity didn’t really care. What mattered was that she wouldn’t take any pills anytime soon and that was that.
With sluggish movements she applied the most simplest of make-up, then she left the bathroom to dress up.
Another day of sadness and sorrow could begin. And it didn’t seem to be any better than the ones before. In fact, today would likely be the worst of them all.
Silently she made her exit, careful not to wake the sleeping inhabitant of the room. Once she was finally outside, Rainbow Dash slowly closed the door and walked into the living room. Only a few critters were still around, most notably Angel of course. The little white bunny was currently standing atop the newspaper from Thursday. As the prismatic haired girl entered, she received a demanding look from two narrowed eyes.
"Don’t worry little guy, she is sleeping. Just lay off my back a bit, will you?“ Without waiting for some sort of answer Rainbow got her lunch from the kitchen, some simple sandwiches curtesy of Pinkie, and sat down at the table.
Before she could start eating though, the opened article managed to catch her attention. It was about the accident. Of course.
Flinging the newspaper towards an empty basket, she finally dug in, although now her mind was again swirling with thoughts and questions. And here she had tried to finally take her mind off it for atleast some time. Alas to no avail, it seemed.
Looking around, Rainbow couldn’t see Angel Bunny anywhere. Most likely scenario: He was currently trying to get inside the room of his best friend/owner. Hopefully he would do it quietly.
They had already released her home some days ago, but only because there was no real point of keeping her in a hospital. She still needed to be cared for, atleast for a few more days.
Fluttershy had been shaken by what happened for the entirety of Wednesday, but when the most terrible news had arrived, she had just snapped. All the stress and then this, it had caused her legs to give out and her mind quickly followed suit. Now she had to be carried around, and make daily exercises to get her body back in working business.
She had insisted to attend the funeral though, even when it meant using a temporary wheelchair.
Well, a memory stone had been placed on a small free spot in the graveyard, a couple of words had been spoken, a few flowers had been placed before it, tears had flown. And that was it. That was all you could do if nothing of the person was left to bury, when everything had been consumed in fire and explosions.
Princess Twilight had been there, the Rainbooms of course, some students from CHS, the teachers, some family, sadly none of Sunset her herself. Somehow it had made the whole thing even more despressing than it already felt.
And now everyone was trying to recollect themselves, reorganize their lives. Christmas was near, winter break had started. Life was moving on, so should they. Still, Rainbow kept coming back to this whole thing, to her memories of Sunset.
She often had to wonder why she could not accept it. She knew of course that she was one of the most headstrong people in the school, alongside Applejack and a few others. But seldom had things been so unreal, happening so quickly that even she could not understand it.
The last week just seemingly blended together for her. They had distanced themselves from Sunset for, at that point, obvious reasons. Things had escalated so much so fast; Rainbow had to admit that many, she and the other Rainbooms included, had all to readily started to fall back into the status quo of mere months ago.
But everything just escalated further. Suddenly, word got around that Sunset was being driven to the hospital. Then she when she had gotten the first actual account of what happened from Lyra, she had been horrified. Only a couple hours later the next bomb: Sunset was actually dead. And only now things seemed to calm down finally, somewhat.
Rainbow already missed her. It was strange, but that was that.
Behind the building that made up the main part of CHS, Gilda Grimfeather was sitting on the bleachers and smoking a cigarette. Since it was the last day of school before the holidays and really cold, she could be sure that no teachers would come out and interrupt her. There were others that had also used this opportunity, not necessarily to smoke, but right now no one else was here.
The main reason for students to seek peace by the sports fields had been the entire fiasco, sitting in the cold was preferable to bear the chaos in the hallways. Sadly one could enjoy this little safe haven for only that much time between lessons, but it still helped.
Now though, the importance had severly diminished. Sunset was gone and with her Anon-a-miss, and with that the influx of secrets. The school wasn’t peacefull by any means. Arguments still happened, so many groups were still broken apart and you could count the number of ‘happy reunifications‘ with your fingers. But at least no more fuel was being thrown into the fire.
Gilda put the burning cigarette back into her mouth and leaned back. Everywhere she looked, white snow covered the world in a big white blanket. A few half-hearted christmas decorations had been set up, although it just looked pathetic. Not like anyone at school was very enthusiastic at the moment.
Amidst the scenery, it was easy for Gilda to spot another person making their way towards the bleachers. They didn’t look like a member of staff, so she was content to continue smoking.
The figure approached an soon Gilda was able to identify her. Lightning Dust still looked somber and downtrodden, which was understandable since a few assholes hadn’t really stopped teasing her yet. On the other hand though, things had started to get better again, so seing her still like this was somewhat worrisome for Gilda.
"Yo Lightning, you alright?“ She looked up but said nothing. Instead she walked over and sat down next to the white haired girl. Gilda took the cigarette packet from her leather jacket and held it in an offering gesture. "Want one?“
"No thank you.“ Lightning’s response came out unnaturally soft for the usually energetic football player. With a shrug, the packet was put back into its pocket. Frozen air passed between them in powerful gusts.
Finally, Gilda decided to break the silence in the way she knew best: direct confrontation.
"Alright Dusty, whats bugging you? If it's cause a few dipshits are still thinking living by yer ol' Grandma is hilarious-“
"It’s not that, Gil. But I appreciate it. It is something else that has been on my mind.“ Lightning gave a small sigh before continuing. "I know it will sound kinda stupid, but I can’t stop myself thinking about it.“
Gilda just gave a small grin, extinguishing the remains of her cigarette in the snow. "Just let it out girl. No one here that is gonna judge you or anything.“
"Okay. The thing that has been bugging me since Thursday, well it has to do with Sunset.“ Gilda frowned, still she didn’t interrupt her company. "I… Gilda, did we kill her?“
The other girl let out her breath in a steamy white cloud, her hand scratching her equally white hair.
"Damn, Lightning that is rather dark of you to think. And to give ya'n answer: No. I don’t think that we killed her. Won’t deny that we hurt her though, one way or another. But what makes you think that?“
"I dunno, its just a feeling of some sort I guess. I mean lots of people are saying she had suffered from interal bleeding. And, well it is possible…“
"Listen, I’m no doctor, but I don’t think pushing someone into lockers a few times, or hitting them with ice n' pebbles, results in blood coming out your entire face. Sunset is dead, I don’t like it any more than you do and I don’t think she deserved this, but thats just how it is. And with her body kinda reduced to ashes, there’s no way we’ll know what caused it all, sad as it may be.“
There was no answer to this from Lightning as she simply sat there. Mumbling something under her breath, Gilda pulled out a new cigarette and plucked it into her mouth.
"Not that I don't understand the point you're making. Or the guilt you're feeling." Lightning actually raised an eyebrow at that, prompting Gilda to elaborate further. "I'm pretty sure I was the last one to hurt her, y'know. Damn it all, I just wanted to stop it, somehow. Thought that if her phone was out, maybe that would hinder the entire thing. It felt shitty, not gonna lie, but I hoped it would matter. Now, I only feel shitty about it. Thinking that I only made things worse, what with me kicking her in the gut after all that. Damned mess this is."
As she searched for her matches, two almost synchronized sounds went off. One off them sounded like some sort of warning siren, and it was coming from Lightning’s phone.
Gilda just raised an eyebrow. Lightning gave a tired sigh and retrieved the device from its pocket.
"It’s Anon-a-miss, again. Sorry, I changed the notification to an air raid siren, it seemed fitting at the… time…“ The last of sentence slowly trailed off as the meaning of it all began to settle in.
"That can't be right." She said, cold dread spreading throughout her. "S-she is d-d-de... M-myStable doesn't work like that. And you killed her phone!"
"What is going on?“ Gilda whispered, as she too took out her phone on went on the MyStable-page that had started it all. Neither spoke a word, as both girls read the newest post. Again and again. Only a few seconds later Anon-a-Miss posted again, this time a single picture with no underlying text whatsoever. Not that it needed any.
"Y-you've got to be shitting me. This... it had to be her..."
"She wasn't it… what have we done Dusty?“
The icy air blew through the streets and the open field. New snowflakes gently drifted from the sky towards the earth, to join their comrades on the floor. On the cold bleachers, two girls sat in utter disbelief. Their minds had already accepted a fact, welcomed it even, using it as a reason for their actions. And yet, right before them was the evidence that they had been wrong. The entire school had been wrong.
"Twilight! Dinner is ready!“
It only took the girl seven minutes and 38 seconds to pause all her experiements, shed her labcoat and get from her labatory to the dining table. She knew it, for she had mentally counted every single second.
Like usual, her parents had made the call to dinner about ten minutes before it could actually begin, knowing full well that their daughter needed some time to make sure none of her projects would continue and/or suffer a meltdown while eating. And since she was already here now, Twilight could very well help with setting the table.
"Please set for five people, Twilight, your brother and Cadence are coming.“ Night Light said before returning to the, rather big, kitchen of the house. Twilight beamed and immediately went to grab the plates from the right cabinett. Her BBBFF would finally be home again!
She hadn’t heard a lot of specifc details, only that Shining had been very occupied the last couple of days. This meant that he had been living in a small apartment near to the police station, and not in the family residence. But now, atleast for the weekend, he would be home!
And Dean Cadence was also coming. While Twilight found the quantity of her visits in recent times a bit strange, there was exactly no reason to complain about it.
Dingeling-Dong!
"That must be them, I’ll go get it!“
Twilight rushed towards the door, her little dog Spike directly behind her. All the noise had woken him up as soon as the lavender girl had started to pause all of her projects. Now he was excitedly following her with his tail waggling. Both of them stopped before the main entrance, and with waisting no time the portal was opened.
With a loud squeal, Twilight threw herself in a hug with her older brother. Her brother, who had only had half a second to drop everything he had been carrying and to brace himself for impact. To his credit, Shining Armor actually managed to keep himself steady while happily returning the hug.
"Shining! You’re finally back again!“
"Hello, Twily. I’m happy too, but please be careful. You almost knocked me over completely.“ Shining chuckled as his younger sister finally released him with a sheepish smile.
A smile that soon turned into a genuine one as the spectacled girl looked to the other visitor, who wasn’t really successful in trying not to giggle at the exchange before her.
"Good evening, Dean Cadence.“
Instead of answering immediately, Cadence moved right in front of her and leaned down. With a big grin on both of their faces, the two carried out their own little meeting ritual.
"Sunshine. Sunshine, Ladybugs awake! Clap your hands and do a little shake!“
After fullfilling the associated moves, Twilight errupted in laughter and embraced her dean in another hug.
"Hey, Ladybug. You do know we only saw each other yesterday?“ The young woman asked with giggles interrupting her speech. Shining was also chuckling to himself with a warm smile, his cheecks blushing ever so slightly. Not that Twilight would notice anyway.
Pulling away from her, Twilight finally let both of them into the house, but only after scooping up Spike to prevent him getting in the way.
"I know, but it feels so long already.“
Shortly after, the entire Sparkle household plus visitor was sitting at the table. Dinner was served and soon conversation shifted towards the eldest son’s recent occupation.
"Come on Shining, tell us about your job. It must have been something very important and serious if they needed you the entire week.“ His Mother asked with genuine interest.
"Yeah, about that. Mainly they needed us to investigate what happened at Canterlot High and the Bridge. And well… I can’t tell a lot of what happened, because there is honestly not a lot of information that we have at all. Even though everyone's been trying to find things at any place even remotely connected, we got nothing.“
When she heard the name of the well-known highschool, Twilight Sparkle immediately perked up. "Wait, you mean CHS? What happened there?“
There was a general silence around the table, as most members were looking at the young scientist with a bit of disbelief. Feeling all the stares coming from her family and Dean, Twilight blushed, while her hands nervously fiddled with her fork.
"Whaaat? I… was very busy lately. With science, and experiements and doing… a lot of homework.“ Trying to hide her blush as well as getting the attention off herself, the lavender girl turned to her brother again.
"So really, what happened at CHS, was it something bad?“
Shining Armor put down his own curtlery. "I don’t know the full extent, but what happened was rather bad, unfortunetly. Apparently over the last two weeks or so, there had been… cyber-bullying of some sort. Someone publishing gossip and little secrets from others under an anonymus account. Sadly, many students quickly found a scapegoat in one particular girl. From what they told us she had been a bully herself for about three years, but lately she had tried to better herself. Then last Wednesday there was an incident of sorts. She… according to all the witnessess, she had come in conflict with a couple of students whom she had been friends with. Then suddenly she collapsed and… started bleeding.“ Shining looked unsure if he should elaborate any further, but evidently decided against it. "The thing is, the girl was driven to a hospital immediately, but on the way to Canterlot Center a car accident happened. From what all the eye-witnesses told us, the ambulance just suddenly burst into flames, lost control and crashed on it's side. That happened on the Royal bridge, over the Everfree River.“
His sister watched him with widened eyes, while the rest of the family had rather somber expressions.
"Did anyone survive?“
"From the ambulance, sadly no. There was another car that got caught in the blast, but it's driver is alive, though still in hospital. The fire was really bad, we could only recover two bodies out of possible five, and there is no way any can be identified. The last days were spent asking almost half the school for any tidbit of information on what happened and what may be the cause, but we may never know."
The CMC-clubhouse was already in sight, amidst the massive orchard of apple trees. Not a lot of noise could be heard, except the random bird or critter, as well as Scootaloo making her way towards the treehouse. As she entered it, she could already see her two friends waiting for her. Scootaloo set down her scooter at the entrance and flashed a short smile towards Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.
As she finally sat down, Applebloom hesitantely started to speak. "Hey Scoots. How is Rainbow Dash doing?“
"She… is okay. Has been a bit busy lately, keeping an eye and caring for Fluttershy. She has been rather quiet in the last few days, but, I mean… I can’t blame her.“
The following silence was broken by Sweetie Belle, as she vigorously stood up from her chair and planted herself before her two friends.
"Alright, enough with this, if I have to adress the elephant in the room so be it. Sunset Shimmer is dead, who here feels guilty for it?“
Three hands were raised simultaneously. Sweetie gave a satisfied nod. "Good, were on the same page then.“ With that she let out a sigh, and dropped her vehement demeanor.
"I just don’t understand it.“ Scootaloo was staring at the floor while she was speaking, her fingers playing with her phone. "There is no real reason why we are directly responsible for what happened with her, no one can explain the cause or anything, really. It could be any reason, something completely unrelated to us. But I… I still have this feeling in my gut… it-I don’t know how to explain it.“
"Ah get ya Scoots.“ Applebloom joined in. "Lately, everytime I see mah Sis, I feel bad for what we did.“ Both of the other girls gave her a questioning look, prompting Applebloom for more details. "She is like a robot sometimes, you know what I mean? She just walks around, always looking for something to do. I guess that is how she’s trying to distract herself when none of the other girls are around. Yesterday… she had a lot of apple cider for diner. Thankfully we managed to convince her to stop, but she has been acting very agitated since. I think, she is feeling really guilty too, and is trying distract herself as much as possible without caring about how.“
Scootaloo looked at her red-haired friend with shock, immediately the guilt reformed in her guts like a rock.
"Alright…“ Sweetie once again asumed the conversation, although she herself was also slightly shaken from the news. "Now, who here feels like we shouldn’t have done it? Because, let us be really honest here. We suceeded, we got what we wanted. Our, respective, sisters are spending less time with Sunset and more time with us. It’s- it is just how it is.“
"Geez Sweetie. That is col-“
"But it’s a fact, Applebloom.“ The white girl wrapped her hands around herself. "I didn’t want her to die, none of us did, I don't think even anyone of the entire school wanted her dead. But she is. Maybe we are guilty, maybe it would have happened anyway. But we wont know. God-dammit, nobody will know why anything happened at all. I have helped Rarity for the last two days. She is a mess, but in those two days I spend more time with her than in the entirety of this month until we started the site.“
The farm girl had no valid response to this, instead she turned to her orange friend only to be greeted by a similar expression.
"So, we won?“ She fell back into the small bean sag and looked towards the ceiling. "Doesn’t feel like a good victory.“
Sweetie Belle just shook her head. "No, it doesn’t. It feels like shit.“
After another short silence, Scootaloo finally looked up. "What do we do now? Do we leave the site be or delete it? And are we coming clean to our sisters?“
"No!“ Applebloom sat up straight in her bag, her tone filled with sudden urgency. "If we do this, everything will be for nothin‘. Right now, everyone is still shaken and messed up from what happened, what do ya think would happen if they find out that we’re behind it? Things will get even worse than they are right now.“
"I agree with Scootaloo, though. I think we should tell them the truth, just not now. Maybe in a year, maybe in half, maybe in more. But not now.“ Sweetie held out both hands to her friends. "And I think we should do it together, right?“
All three looked at each other, than they stood up and took the offered hands.
"Yeah we do. We started it together, we will suffer the consequences together. Eventually, atleast.“ Scootaloo added.
Three pairs of hands gave a reafirmed shake.
"One last question though... Can we make a post on Anon-a-Miss? A final one?“
Surprised glances were shared among the rest of the CMC.
"What do you have planned Applebloom?“ Sweetie asked.
"Nothing bad, I just want to… well… it is something I feel we owe to Sunset.“
Princess Twilight was standing before two ornate doors, mentally steeling for what was about to happen. It had to be done, no way around it, better now than later.
With a long, depressed sigh, the purple alicorn finished her breathing exercises and entered the room.
All current members of equestrian royalty were now present. Princesses Celestia and Cadance were amiably chatting with Prince Shining Armor about something, Twilight didn’t pay any attention to it. In a few moments it would not be of any matter anymore.
Princess Luna was playing with little Princess Flurry Heart, while the Lord of Chaos himself was sitting next to them. Discord sported an amused smile. It seemed to be one of the rare times that he decided to simply hang out with others, although Twilight knew he was waiting for the perfect moment to let loose even a small bit of his energy.
Twilight gave her head a small shake and moved onward. No avoiding it, the sooner it was done the better.
"Twilight! You’re finally back.“ Celestia had finally taken notice of her. "How was it across the mirror?“
She hadn’t told her. Not just her, everyone. She had lied to them all, now she had to tell all of them.
"Y-Yes Princess, I have returned from Terra and… I have news to deliver.“ Her voice threatened to give out. But it had to be done.
"Come now Twilight, no need for titles and such.“ Celestia’s smile was so warm and genuine. They all looked so friendly. "Why don’t you sit down and have some tea with us?“
But the purple alicorn remained where she was. Now, both Luna and Shining Armor were exchanging worried looks, they suspected that something was off.
Twilight gave a last small sigh, there was no point avoiding it.
"Princess Celestia… I am very sorry. My journey through portal was not one born from the desire to see my friends there but- well…“ For a moment she hesitated, searching for the right words. At this point all the beings before her had lost their carefree expression and were looking with uncertainty.
"Three days ago I received a message from across the portal. Almost immediately I crossed it, seeking confirmation in desperate hope. As it turned out, in vain. I regret to bear such news, b-but, several days ago an accident happened at Canterlot High School.“ Tears threatened to spill out of Twilights eyes, yet she held them back. The hardest part was not yet over.
"And Sunset Shimmer is… sh-she… She has passed away.“
Just as the first of her tears was trickling down her furr, Flurry Heart began to cry.
Dim lights gave the room a downtrodden and depressed feeling. Normally, the Vice-Principal tried to give the room a sense of mystery and power, as well as revelling in her fable for darkness and gothic themes. For Applejack, it made her want to go and confine herself into the darkest of the corners.
Such thoughts were exactly why she tried to drown herself in work at home, where she could have the space and the distraction from her thoughts. They also had made her really moody in the last days. That was why she was now standing before Vice-Principal Luna.
She drowned on and on. Talking about Applejack's behavior in the last days since Sunset Shimmer had died.
Applejack listened and yet she didn't. Words meant nothing to her anymore, not those words, telling her that she couldn't act like this, even with everything that happened.
That she could not get into shouting matches with other students over petty things, simply because she was feeling angry that moment. Applejack knew that already, she was very honest with herself, like how she had been honest that moment, what with acting exactly like she felt. That was honesty, wasn't it?
"Applejack, I understand what you're going through right know." This let the orange girl pay attention a bit more. Although it was more because she wanted to know how exactly the woman in front of her could possibly understand her current mood.
"Your friends told me that you value honesty a lot. From my own observation and evalution of your recent behavior, I-"
"Ah don't think you understand me, VP." Her voice was snippish, her behavior so different than normal.
"Oh? Well then, why don't you explain to me so I can understand you better? Maybe that would help our current situation." The Vice-Principal said while keeping her collected facade. It was the last day this year, she wanted this done already. Yet this was a delicate bomb to defuse.
Applejack said nothing though. She didn't try to explain herself or lash out more, she just waited. She wanted to get back to her home and continue working, where it was quiet and nobody bothered her. Where no one argued if Sunset was guilty or innocent. It was all just annoying.
If there was evidence, actual evidence that several students could testify as being true, why still argue against it? They were lying to themselves by disagreeing. She was simply being honest with herself, those were facts after all! She had talked to Octavia.
Yes, Sunset of course did not deserve what happened; she deserved a lot but not this.
Ping!
Luna looked at her computer, made a few clicks, then she seemed to read something.
"Let me ask you this, Applejack. One simple question." The girl looked the Vice-Principal directly in the face, looking for a slip on her facade so she could understand the trick behind this. But the woman remained unreadible, so she just nodded. Might as well get it over with quickly.
"Do you still believe that Sunset is behind Anon-a-Miss?"
"Yes." The response came with almost no hesitation.
Then the older woman pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers, slowly shaking her head.
"VP? Somethin' wrong?" Applejack asked uncertainly. She received no real answer. Instead Luna simply beckoned with her hand towards the screen, prompting the country girl to walk towards it so she could read it.
https//mystable/account/Anon-a-Miss-history//:
Anon-a-Miss:
Well, students of CHS, looks like winter break has finally come 4 u. so it's over for now
Lets be real here. u have time on ur hands now, use it. Cause I know many are making me responsible for all this chaos, which I am, but u are not as innocent as u wanna be. So go on, try 2 mend ur friendships before it is 2 late.
Maybe we will see eachother again, though I hope 4 u that sth like this time wont happen again.
After the message, there was a picture posted. It had good quality, probally taken with an actual camera. The white snow was a stark contrast to the dim light of the room they were in, blinding Applejack for a few seconds before her eyes could readjust. That was when she could see the other contents of it. Like the greyish sky, or the small green winter bushes. Like the red and gold flowers. Or the many shaped and coloured stones. Like the one in the center of the picture.
In memory of Sunset Shimmer. May you rest in peace.
The Everfree River, which originates from the similarly named forest, runs straight through the city of Canterlot before heading into the neighboring sea. There are several smaller and bigger bridges that enable traffic over the natural blockage, simultaniously creating some very beautiful scenery, both from the bridges and with the bridges. Partially because of this, the city was always trying to keep the river clean and undisturbed. And they were mostly successful, except sometimes when people lost the grip on their things. And then there were the odd little occasions, where unusual or mysterious things fell into the water.
In the midst of winter, deep down on the ground of the freezing cold river, one of these unusual oddities began to drift up again. Small fish scurried away, as little rocks and dirt were flung up from the spot they had laid down.
Up and up it drifted, carried along by the current. As it almost reached the waterline, it suddenly started to float to the right.
While the sun started to set on a cold Monday evening, a red figure was washed on one of the stone shores that lined the Everfree River.
A cold wind was blowing, whirling up the freshly fallen snow. The everpresent sounds of a city filled the air, cars driving and people making their way home from work. For them it was just a normal working-day.
On this particular spot however, near the Tumblewood park, a new sound filled the air, as slowly.
Gently.
The first breath of a new life was taken.
Thick grey smoke filled the air, joining the faint white clouds silently dissipating into the cold. Both originated from a trio of young people, who were leaning or outright lying on a deep red truck and smoking cigarettes. It was getting late, yet none of them seemed to care too much, instead they were talking about anything that came to their mind.
"Yo, Ice Rain! My brother wanted me to ask you for the number of that chick that works at your dad’s mechanic shop. Y’know, the one with the longass hair?“
Ice Rain, a young man of steel-grey skin and with ice-blue hair, lazily lifted his head from the front glass of his vehicle. "Sky, let me be real here. Even if I knew her full name, number or what-ever! My pops would most likely snap my neck when he finds out. The two have some sort of thing going on, I don’t know.“
This earned him a sulking Sky Buster, with his deep yellow pony tail and orange skin, as well as a snicker from the third of the group.
"I thought your old man was already married for forty-somewhat years? And now he’s going for someone a four-“ Ivory Gust tried to say, as a fresh windblow carried even more snow into the air, ruffling his styled orange hair that clashed horribly with his dark greyish skin.
"Gust, finish that sentence and I will throw you into the river myself! And for your information, my father never betrayed my mother! As for his friend!“ Ice Rain gave an annoyed sigh and took anothe pull of his cigarette before continuing. "I swear, there is some kind of bond between them. He talks to her with a familarity that you just don’t get with being simple co-workers or friends. He always calls her pevun’ya, and he never tells us any details when we ask him about her. Instead he leads the conversation into another direction or acts like he didn’t hear us. I don't know, it is just strange.“
"Maybe he is just getting too old to remember everything, gets her mixed up with somebody else. Or he really has a thing goin-“
"Gust, last warning!“
For the three youngsters, the sounds of the surrounding city had become distant white noise long ago, including the rushing sounds of the nearby Everfree River. And so wrapped up in their scuffle they were, their attention of the city around them had already waned significantly.
That was why they didn’t spot the figure approaching them until it was almost next to them.
Sky Buster was the first who saw it, and when the others noticed his wide eyes they turned to see what their friend was looking at. Once they did, similar expressions of disbelief and surprise adorned their faces, as they laid their eyes on it. Or rather, on her.
Before them was a young woman, of eighteen years by the looks of it. She seemed uncaring of the snow and the cold wind around her, even though she was completely naked. Her skin was of a rich cardinal red and glistened in the last rays of the sun, as little droplets of water made their way towards the ground. Her hair was a deep crimson, with a few strands of yellow running through it. It would look similar to a flame, if it wouldn't cling to her head from all the water. Her eyes were a bright cyan, although at the moment they seemed unfocused, clouded and confused. She looked like she had woken up just seconds ago, still sleepy and not fully functional.
All three boys stared at her, mouths and eyes wide open, as she made one wobbly step after another.
"U-uuuhm… e-excuse me? Where… could you t-tell me… where am I?“ Just like her body, her voice was also unfocused and shaky, not directed at anyone in particular. Still, it managed to get the youngsters out of their shock.
"What’s your name?“ came the blurted response from Ivory Gust. However, this seemed to cause the girl even more confusion.
"M-my… name? I… think… n-noo… W-where are we a-gain?“
Sky Buster shot Gust an annoyed look. „Ahm, Miss, are okay? It is literally freezing out here.“ he asked with a slightly worried expression.
The girl took another weak step foward and reached to steady herself on the truck. She looked to her hand and then towards the ground, as if she only now noticed the cold snow around her bare feet. She frowned and looked back up at Sky, even though her eyes looked right beside him.
"Uh… no? I t-think?... who... am I, again?“
This earned her a trio of worried looks, looks that were then shared with each other before Ice Rain jumped down from the hood of his car.
Taking of his coat, he hung the fabric around the girls shoulders for good measure and tried to lead her towards the backseat. "Come on, we will bring you to a warmer place, okay? Sky, open the back door!“
No resistance of any kind was put up, only a few nods as her eyes became even more distant and unfocused. Ice helped her into the right backseat and buckled her up.
He may had stolen a few looks at her while being this close, even though he had tried his hardest to NOT look, but before short it was done and he closed the door to deny the cold wind inside the car.
"Soooo, what now?“ Sky asked as soon as the door closed. Gust wanted to say something, quite possibly some bad joke, but he decided against it and remained silent.
Ice Rain scratched the back of his head. "Well, my dad’s shop is not far from here. I’d say we drive to there. My Mother knows how to deal with hypothermia, and it’s closer than the next hospital.
"Sounds good to me, I’ll sit in the back.“ Ivory Gust said, but as he laid a hand on the backseat door Sky held him back.
"No offense dude, but I think you should sit in the front.“
"Ugh… why?“
"Because I already have a girlfriend and therefore I am restricted. Neither of those qualities apply to you.“ Sky then walked to the other side of the car and entered the back. Gust just grumbled a bit before entering on the passenger seat, while Ice rain climbed into the driver seat. Once everyone was inside, Ice turned to look at their new passenger only to find that she was asleep. Despite himself, Sky Buster tentatively reached out and touched her arm with his hand, only to frown in surprise.
He turned to his friends and said: “I’m no biologist, but shouldn’t she be rather cooled after being outside, with like, nothing? ‘Cause she feels rather warm to the touch.“
Ice Rain shook his head and started the motor, whispering to himself: “Mother will know, she lived in Russiamane, she will know.“
Steel Rain gave a last wave, as his latest customer left the shop, and breathed a sigh of relief. It was not that he didn’t enjoy his work here, quite the opposite. But he was getting rather old now and every completed task, customer and ultimately every day filled him with exhaustion and satisfaction alike. Nobody else was in the store’s main front with him, so he could lean back and take in his life’s work.
Well, half of his life’s work, the other half was slowly rosting on a filled parkspace somewhere outside the city.
Nethertheless, The Red Star Mechanic was his full pride. The main room of the store was decorated to be welcoming, with benches and stools next to several cabinets for tools and other mechanical necessities. Pictures of several different vehicles, from small cars to vans to trucks and many more, lined two out of four walls. While the front was almost completely made out of glass, the back sported three different doors with one bigger than the others. In between them hung old images, almost antic automobiles in most of them. The counter had a metal monstrosity afixed to it, for everyone to see.
It was a rather big red star, its lower half covered by a thick green metal plate that had been literally bolted to it. Someone had welded the name of the shop into it, alongside a couple swirly underlines to make it look nicer.
The thing wasn‘t beautiful, but it had grown on Steel, and now it proudly adorned the counter. Of course, it was poking at his history rather unsubtly, but by now it didn’t matter that much anymore. He took it with humor, he always had, after all it hadn't been made with malicious intent.
Steel Rain quietly chuckled to himself as he got up from his chair and made his way through the big double doors on the right side of the counter, right into the actual heart of his dream. The mechanic bay.
Only one person was currently at work, even though a total of four others were under his constant employee. But it was late in the day, his workforce was at home, and there wouldn’t be anything the two of them couldn’t handle.
He had to search for a moment, but finally he made out her location, right under a deep blue SUV with only her worn combat boots peeking out. She was hard at work as usual, if the sounds were any evidence.
"Ah, pevun’ya. Still trying to fix it? That must be odin ad of a fuel leak, you’ve been at it the whole day.“
There was no real response to it, only a slightly agitated grunt. But this was pretty normal, he talked, she listened, often while working on something.
Steel Rain pulled a chair from a nearby workbench at sat down.
"My knees are not what they once were I’m afraid, don’t know how long I will still be able to run this shop.“ He sighed again, but still kept his satisfied smile on his lipps. “Got a message from my little Icebell today, she is doing great. Soon, very soon, she can take over and care for this pile of metal and memories.“ Before he could change the subject however, Steel could hear the familiar sound of his son’s own engine driving into the yard just behind the shop.
"Finally. Ah pevun’ya, he is back. Sometimes I wish lil' Rain was still this young little boy. But, time cannot be turned back, and it is not like he isn’t doing anything with his own life. He has great promise, and he is pursuing his own dreams, I guess.“
The one-sided conversation was broken as a muffled voice came out from under the SUV. “When are you finally gonna drop the title, old man?“ it asked, although amusement was clearly hearable underneath the serious tone.
Steel gave a good-hearted chuckle and stood up again. “I am afraid you’ll have to wait until I die for that, pesnya ptitsa nochi. Now then, I have to go and check up on him.“
"Da, da. I’m almost finished here.“ came the response.
Just as Steel Rain made his way towards the cortyard, he could make out the very distinct voice of his wife, talking in a rather loud manner.
When the door of the box opened and the three helped her out, she could get a nice look of a part of the surroundings.
It was some sort of yard, open to where they had come from, beset by three sides with mountains.
Three very-likely-doors like with the moving box of different size and colour let to…
…somewhere.
Hehe, three three three.
One grey and tough-looking in the middle, to the right a big-maybe-door with overlapping bars yet no stuff-to-open-it and a green door to the left.
This one was also more decorated and had see-through surfaces with things holding more white beside it.
There was also white everywhere she could stand.
It still felt so funny.
The three were talking with eachother, discussing something.
She knew that she should listen…
…but concentrating for it was too tiring. Instead she let her eyes drift again, that was easier.
Suddenly a strong voice rang across the courtyard, making everyone but her jump.
"ICE RAIN! WHAT IS GOING ON?!“
The person who likely owned the voice was an Older of light blue colouration, the hair a mix of cyan and silvery grey and very energetic.
Also the Older was talking funny, although she couldn’t think of why…
…where was she again?
"Calm down, Ma we f-“
"Why are you just standing there!“ the Older yelled at the three, waving her hands towards the pretty left door. “Get her inside! Next to the fireplace, the poor dear must be freezing!“
“That was why we came here-“
“Actually, I don’t think she is freezing at all, she-“
“Yes, ma’am! Right away ma’a-“
“DON’T TALK, DURAKS! PODVIN’ETO! PODVIN’ETO!“ All three hurriedly tried to help her to get… somewhere. She only knew what was spoken because it was so loud. And short.
They all moved and moved, then they seemed to decide on something.
Two of the three each had one of her arms over them and pretty much carried her towards the left.
She didn’t know what the third did.
The Older rushed back through the pretty door, mumbling stuff she didn’t understand.
From behind she could vagely hear a new voice saying something.
“Ahm, lyubimyy? What is going on?“
Everything was so much clearer.
She could follow their voices now, without her attention leaving after ten seconds. Also her body was now tingling like crazy. It felt like she was burning, a bit atleast. The three boys were talking to the two older persons. A man and a woman, they seemed to be the same age.
A family perhaps?
The old man had a similar skin colour to one of the boys, as well as very nice silver hair, so maybe they were related.
Their conversation was very animated, but it had toned down in intensity now. She knew it was about her, about what had transpired mere moments ago. Her own memories of it were foggy and uncertain at best, but hearing it helped somehow. She could hold on to pictures and spoken voices in her mind, without feeling them slipping away. Next to that however…
Nothing.
Just nothing.
A black void.
A… little girl?
She shook her head a bit.
No, this was real, there was a little girl peeking at her over the arm of the sofa she was currently lying on. This sudden attention made her feel self-conscious for some reason.
Weird. Literally as long as she could remember, they had all stared at her. Was it because she thought more now? Nevertheless, she tried to sit up in her roll of blankets. It kinda worked.
As she settled on the arm of her side of the sofa, tuning out the conversation coming from the white tiled room without door, she stared right back at the girl.
The girl had hair of gleaming silver, with brilliant streaks of white that were almost sparkling. Or maybe they were sparkling, she could not be sure. Underneath the mysterious hair was pink skin, and big eyes that were only the faintest of blue. Still they were sharp and clear and they held bare curiosity.
She smiled and tried to give a small wave, before being reminded that her entire body was immobilized and stuck in several layers of cloth.
The little girl gave a toothy smile still, wether she recognized the attempted gesture or not and continued to gave curious looks while voices droned on in the background.
"I’m Snowflake. What’s your name?“ the girl finally asked her.
Again, this simple question threw her mind in confusion. What was her name? Where was she from? Why was she here?
What even WAS here?
So, she could not properly respond, instead she just shrugged her shoulders and opened her mouth to speak.
"I don’t know.“ Her voice was a bit rough and hoarse, very likely because she hadn’t used it much. Not like she would know how long it had been.
Snowflake tilted her head in a question of her own, looking like she was thinking about what had been just said. Then she seemed to achieve a conclusion.
"You’re pretty.“
Now it was her turn to tilt her head in question. "P-pretty? Uhm, thank you I guess.“
The little girl nodded vehemently. "I really like your hair!“ she said with a big genuine smile.
A smile that slowly furrowed into a frown as she tried to turn her head to look at her own hair, a task that seemed to earn her little success as most of it was held back by cloth drained in warm water. This went on for a few moments before Snowflake had enough and ran upstairs, telling her that she would get a mirror.
She looked after the girl in confusion, but also in amusement that someone was so adament to explain her own point. But now she had nothing to concentrate on.
Lucky for her, the door to the courtyard opened and a new person stepped in. It was a young woman, very likely a worker of some kind since her clothes were seemed used and dirty. Also, she was currently cleaning her hands of something very dark with a towl, which was already stained by a lot of differently coloured stuff.
The newcomer let her eyes wander over the entire room, saw the descussing family and settled on the sofa containing her. One eye-brow was raised, while the hands finished their cleaning and threw the towel into the sink with perfect accuracy.
Her entrance did not go unnoticed.
„Ah! Pevun’ya, you’re finished then, I assume?“ The older man said happily, breaking away from the group and walking over to them.
"Da, it should be good now. Although I do now wonder what has happpened here, one can hear you through the entire yard.“
By now, the conversation had already entirely stopped. While the three youngsters were standing in various states of nervousness, the woman stepped to the sofa.
„Our son and his friends brought her in some ten minutes ago. Said they found her in a park and decided to bring her here.“ she said.
By now Snowflake was coming down the stairs again, a small pink mirror clutched in her hand. She quickly made her way towards her target, hopped onto the sofa and held the item right in front of her.
"See?!“ she almost sqeaked in excitement.
While she was looking at herself for the first time, atleast as she knew, Snowflake felt a hand ruffling through her silver-white hair, only now noticing that she wasn’t alone on the coach, with the wrapped up mystery. "Hey there Snowy, how’s it going? You already made friends with her?“
"Mhm!“
Meanwhile the older pair just enjoyed the exchange before them with smiles on their faces. That was until the younger woman noticed her trying to move her arms under the blankets again and swiftly moved to unwrapp her left arm. Before anything was said, her right arm was finally freed, reaching towards the mirror held by Snowflake, while exposing her bare red shoulder.
This gave the other woman a small pause. After scanning the room for idle clothing, she settled her eyes onto the trio with a very knowing and very disapproving glare. A glare that felt for them like if the room had suddenly got colder.
"I think we should give you ladies some room.“ The old man said, making a forceful gesture towards the trio, telling them to follow him outside again. And they all followed with little word of resistance, leaving only the female occupants in the room.
Yet, the older woman still hesitated and turned towards the little girl. "Snowflake, would you be a dear and get some warm clothes out of your sisters closet?“ she said.
"Okay!“ came the enthusiastic response, and soon only three people remained.
"Is something wrong here? You wouldn’t have sent Snowflake away otherwise.“ The younger one asked, her arms crossed before her chest.
In only a few words she was then filled in with everything. A girl had been found naked and without memory in the park. They had brought her here and she was warming up, yet with no knowledge about anything.
"I thoroughly checked her already, no sign of frostbite on any spot on her body, which is good. But hypothermia, that is still not out of the question for her. Like I said, she suffers from memory loss and has shown general coordination problems. Yet my son’s friends told me that she was very warm when they brought her here and that she seemed unaffected and even unaware by the cold and the snow. She also doesn’t seem to feel numb and her pulse is completely fine.“
"And what do you plan to do now?“
The woman sighed. “Bring her to a hospital and get her checked properly, after that I don’t know what we could do.“
As soon as Snowflake came back down with a stack of various clothing, they all prepared for soon depature. Dressing here was done by the newcomer, while Snowflake was brought out of the room by her mother, whose name seemed to be Blizzard Storm.
After she was finally dressed, the other woman simply carried her back into the courtyard, where the box was ready to carry them again.
She was put into the back row again, although now she could take in all the details she had missed on her first time. The old man and one of the trio were already in the front, she vaguely remembered the young one being in the same position last time. Only now she could really take in the similar colours and overall looks of the two.
Definitely family.
Then the box began to move again, out of the courtyard and to somewhere she didn’t know yet.
Sky Buster carefully made his way towards the mechanic bay, repeating his mission again and again. When he entered it, he immediately saw his target. She was prepping her bike, already wearing her helmet and a black leather jacktet. The front gate was slowly opening, clearing the way towards the streets.
Sky took another breath. This was for his brother, no matter how akward he was or how indecisive and cowardly he could be.
"H-hey… My brother saw you last week in that restaurant, and he would like-“
"No.“
"What?“
"Not interested.“
"But-“
"Trust me, no.“
"I-“
"And don’t use the ‘brother‘ excuse for this kind of shit.“
"I didn’t-“
"Don’t care. Don’t want to.“
"Please-“
"Try your luck with other girls.“
"I do-“
"Bye!“
With that, the motor engine roared loud out and the bike sped onto the streets, leaving a dumbfounded Sky Buster behind as the front gate already descended again.
The constant sounds of surrounding electronics, the muffled cars, the quiet ticking of the small clock on the wall. It was all becoming more and more annoying to her. And she had been in this room for only one night.
She shouldn’t really be awake right now, it was 5 AM. But she had already been lying here like this for about half an hour, sleep would not return to her. And it didn't look like things were about to change soon.
There was nothing to do and she didn’t plan to get out of the bed and move around the building. She wasn't sure if the hospital would even permit that.
The hospital.
She knew of course why she was here. She had listened to the doctors, and she remembered what had happened yesterday. More or less.
That was also exactly what she was currently confined to do while waiting for something interesting to happen. Remembering.
The thing was, the capacity of her ability to remember was depressingly small. So she kept replaying the events of her first day, again and again and again. She tried to discover new details she had overlooked or to clear moments that were a blurr before.
Yet her efforts weren’t really successful. Everything up until her first car ride was foggy and unclear. She couldn’t remember any details of the courtyard, other than the colours of the different doors, weirdly. But the most frustrating aspect was, she could not for the life of her remember how an entire person had looked like. The young woman who had ruffled the little girl’s hair, who had helped her dress, who had been called by a name she did not understand and still could not.
The only thing soothing her frustration was that her mind was increasingly able to register and name basic things, like what a car was, or a window for that matter. The one in her room right now was really good at showing her the grey sky.
She hadn’t looked at it in hours now.
Opposite of it was another glass surface, this one was giving a small view of the hospital corridor, next to the door leading out. It had been interesting to stare at it, watch personnel, patients, visitors shuffle about. But at some point it too became rather repetitive.
The only midly exciting things were those few times someone slow was making their way by her, and she could see all those details, think about their life, why they were here and so on. It also made her sad. Atleast they could remember their life, they knew who they were.
She did not have the feintest of clues. She only knew what she herself looked like, when the little girl, Snowflake or something similar had showed her a mirror.
Skin of a lighter than average tone of red, contrasting the deep and rich crimson that coloured her hair. There were also those strands of a shiny yellow contrasting the tones of red. The little girl had seemed to like it.
Over and over she thought through the events of yesterday, remembering the little happy girl, but not the older one. Twisting her mind here and there in an attempt to pull even the feintest of images from the fog before her inner eyes.
The only interruption was when she had an impromptu staring contest with two siblings on the other side of the glass. Her mind had been so wonderfully empty.
But yet again, she was all too awake and concious.
Yaaaay.
One look at the clock: a few minutes before 8 AM.
Atleast yesterday they had done tests with her, and on her. Checking for any injuries, basic stuff, also looked for frostbite, something that had confused her then. Now she knew that they had looked for frozen parts of her body, one of the dangers of being in cold places without protective clothing.
At 8 AM, a nurse finally came into the room to check her vitals and ask a few basic questions.
“How are you feeling?“
“Do you remember something?“
“Are you hungry?“
“Are you cold?“
“Is the room too warm at the moment?“
“Is your body behaving unnaturally in any area or way?“
She didn’t really question the reason behind them, after all the nurse probably knew what she was doing, and answered them truthfully.
I’m feeling fine, like yesterday. Thank you.
Not really. Like, no memories, but knowledge and stuff.
Yes, definitely.
No, not feeling cold.
Too warm? No. Could be a bit warmer actually. Why you asking?
… Well, my brain has lost any memory of who I am.
That last one came out way too snarky. She apologized almost immediately. Luckily, she received breakfast regardless, and with that another break in the monotony that was her life right now.
The food tasted good. But she had a small suspicion that that was simply because she couldn’t really remember a lot of tastes. The food from yesterday had been fantastic, this felt like a downgrade. Even though both meals had looked rather similar.
She really wished she could get out of here already.
Although, what should she do then?
Hours ticked by as she pondered this new question. A task that slowly became just as depressing as everything else she had thought about. She did not know herself, what she was good at, what she could do. She had nothing, not even clothes. Those she had been wearing when coming here were only loaned and right now she had a hospital gown.
She hoped that there were people who could help her find her way again, family members or other relatives. Loved ones of any kind to tell her who she was.
Or just some friends. Even one would be enough, they could simply tell her her name and who she was.
They could help her find herself.
One look at the clock. 12:49
Hopefully they would find her before she could lose all her sanity in this room.
Somehow, she had managed to fall asleep. When she awoke, it was almost 3 PM. Opening her eyes, everything seemed to be normal. The machines still beeped, the clock still ticked, the windows still showed nothing but different shades of grey, so she spared them only a second.
Someone needed to get curtains over here.
As she turned away from the void outside, her eyes fell upon three figures standing outside her glassfront. And suddenly her cursed mind sprang into action, putting a few memory pieces together before shouting out in celebration.
Outside her room stood the one girl she couldn’t remember from yesterday!
The whole day she could not for the (rather short, in a way,) life of her remember the features of this person, and yet she was completely sure that this was indeed her. She almost glowed from euphoria and anticipation. They were clearly talking about her, she could see it in their body language. Her eyes were transfixed on that one girl, the other two figures were completely washed out of her perception.
It felt like an hour had passed, maybe it had, but eventually her excitement receeded somewhat. She also realized then that she had been staring at someone very intensely for a rather long amount of time. A wave of shame and embaressment washed over her and she pulled her gaze from the window front, seeking something to distract herself.
The food which sat on a tabletop afixed to her bed seemed to be a good choice. She akwardly sat up, trying very hard not to stare back at the glass and slowly began to eat. It was nothing special really. Bread with a bit of packaged butter, a few vegetables, some cheese and an apple, all topped off with a small bottle of water.
So she ate in relative silence. It felt strange, since she knew that people were just outside and talking about her and likely watching her. The glass front must be rather thick, or they were being quiet, either way she could not make out a single word.
It became increasingly frustrating to her, so much so that she dared to take another peek at the mysterious figure. It was just a little turn to the right with the head, just enough to get them nicely into her periphery vision. This time she tried to take all three of them in.
Three slender figures, one golden, one a light blue, one purplish. And so familiar…
A sense of vertigo overcame her, her chest felt like it was burning from the inside and her brain seemed to split. She vehemently shook her head and reached for her water, her eyes puffy all of a sudden. Grasping the bottle she chugged down as much as she could, and with a little more head-shaking her body calmed down again. Her eyes refocused and her brain didn’t feel like both halves were waging war against each other. Her breathing slowed down, she had somehow not noticed herself gasping for air.
A noise made her look up at the door, as the three figures from the hall made their way into the room.
“Are you okay?“
She didn’t really hear the question. She was too busy looking at them.
She had seen colourations of gold and blue just a moment ago, but now there was nothing of that sort for her to see. A quick glance towards the glass confirmed the lack of any additional onlookers of that complexion. Or at all. So she slowly turned her head back to her inpromptu visitors. Two of them were leaning in rather close, a doctor and a nurse. He had skin like wood and hair like sand in colour, whereas she looked like a soft green candy cane with hair of white and green stripes.
“Is everything alright with you?“ The doctor placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Oh uhm… Yes, yes, I’m alright.“
“That's good.“ The doctor said. “I will be leaving then, Miss Lifeline, would you please make a routine check on her?“
As he left the other girl moved to follow him, while the nurse did as she had been told. Through it all, she was able to partly see the doctor standing before glass front. Very likely he was in another conversation with the girl. The door opened again just as the nurse was finished and the girl walked back in. She spoke a few quiet words towards Miss Lifeline and waited unitl the nurse was gone, before pulling a chair next to the bed and sitting down.
“Uhm, hi?“
“ ‘sup.“
Both parties took their time examining the opposition. The girl was wearing a long greyish coat, which unfortunately hid most of her body under its thick material. Peering over her own bed, she could make out a rather heavy set of boots. Both pieces of clothing were well kept but plain, rather colourless and lacked any kind of adornment, decoration or symbol. That left only her face.
It naturally stood atop the otherwise grey figure with a light fuchsia complexion. She wondered if this was intentional or if this person simply had no other coats. Maybe both.
What drew her in though, were the other's eyes. They were a shade of purple. Yet, for a moment, she was sure that they gleamed with a red shine. She had to stare to confirm that little piece of information to herself, yet as she looked she could see nothing of what had appeared just now. The girl just stared back with intensity.
“Do you know me?“ she asked carefully.
“Nope.“ came the short reply. “What about you? Any sense of familarity here?“
She shook her head. “Everything’s gone. I mean, I can remember basic stuff, but nothing else. I don’t even have a name right now. Oh, and I remember everything from yesterday, more or less. You helped me.“
The girls just shrugged nonchalantly and crossed her arms.
“So, do have you any news for me? Do they know who I am or did someone already call in for me?“ she asked with a hopeful look on her face, although in the back of her head she kinda knew the answer already.
“As far as I know,“ the other girl said while propping her legs up on the metal bar at the end of the bed. “nobody called here, and there are no missing reports that would fit you. And as long as you didn’t commit a crime, which appearantly you didn’t, they likely do not have your DNA for identification. Oh come on, those things take a bit of time, so stop looking so sad.“
She took another drink from her water bottle, trying to find any topic to talk about that didn’t involve her current condition. She could not think of a single one. It seemed this didn’t go unnoticed her visitor.
“Its the hospital, isn't it? You’re stuck here with nothing to do, no one to keep you company and distract you while you wait for anything to happen, or any new piece of information to reach you. It drives you slowly insane, being confined here.“ Receiving a glare that was both shocked and questioning, she chuckled. “I was in this hospital for a while, not very long ago. So yeah, know how it is for you right now. And that is also why I am here.“
“What do you mean with that?“ she asked.
“Well… lets just say my… roommates, recently moved out of our apartment. So, I have a couple of rooms free for newcomers and…“ The girl hesitated a bit before continuing, altough her voice missed some of her previous toughness. “I miss having someone in the apartment. Right now it's too quiet for my tastes.“
Maybe her visitor was giving her a chance to speak, but she was still trying to take in all news she had just received. This created a few seconds of silence that seemed to stretch into minutes, before the girl started talking again, having regained her composure.
“I talked with the docs and they have given the green sign. You don’t have any injuries, internal or otherwise, you are of good health overall yada, yada, yada. Point is, the only thing they can do right now is wait for a response from the police or someone else. And that might take a while, so there is not a lot of reasons to keep you confined to here. Also they know me, and since I have my own check ups here it would be kinda practical if you lived with me. So, what do you say?“
She just gaped at her, mouth open, before stammering for an answer. “YES, oh my goodness yes please, I mean sure… I mean uh, ahm… I uh, why not… uhm I mean, I don’t even know your name…“ At that, the slightly bemused expression of her opposite changed into one of disbelief, followed closely by a hand slapping against the face.
“Uhm, did I do something wrong?“
“No, you didn’t. I just can’t believe I’m so stupid that I forgot to tell you my name.“ She sighed and stood up. "Seriously, you’re the worst.“
“S-sorry?“
“Nothing. Well then!“ She stood up, again looming over the hospital bed, extending her hand. “The name is Aria. Aria Blaze.“
Aria Blaze.
A nice name in her opinion, short, yet it had elegance.
If she was honest, the same properties applied to this name’s bearer as well, except maybe the short part.
She had still not seen anything of what kind of figure hid underneath the great cloth, something that seemed to bug her to an extreme. It was like she was deliberately concealing herself, making herself a mysterious figure to the girl. Maybe she was also just a bit envious of the coat. It looked so comfortable and snug, unlike the gown on her own body.
Anyhow, she had to wait just a bit more and then she could escape this gown afterall. And the room. And the entire hospital. She was really excited for that.
Aria was currently filling out necessary papers and talking with more doctors about more important stuff, all that to basically get temporary custody over her, until her memories and/or family came back. Before that they had talked a bit more, to get to know eachother a bit more. As much as possible atleast.
There was not a lot of information Aria had been ready to give though. Nothing about family or her previous roommates.
Instead the fuchsia girl had divulged little things. Not like it had really bothered her, she had been way more interested in learning anything more about Aria.
Like what she did in her freetime, “Lots of things. I think you will see for yourself.“, what her favorite food was, “Potato and meat salad.“ and her music preferences. “I like most music, metal is my personal favorite right now.“.
The door opened and in stepped the very woman she had thought about the entire time, holding a small folder in her hand.
“Alright, got all the legal crap. Here ya go.“ With that she threw a plastic bag containing the same clothes from yesterday onto the hospital bed. Aria turned around and made it a point of staring angrily at anyone that dared move by the glass front.
She complied, walking into the bathroom and qickly stripping herself out of the gown, donning the contents afterwards. When she was ready, she stepped back into the room.
“So, have you thought about a name yet?“
She perked up. Aria was still shooting glares at everybody with the audacity to enter her point of view. Funnily enough her voice was still in the grounded and calm, and partly indifferent, tone she had started speaking with today.
“Uhm… I tried, but I couldn’t come up with anything nice really.“ Also she had mostly thought about someone else for the most part.
Aria finally turned her head, just as she was closing the oversized jacket she had temporarily been gifted with. Pulling a couple of papers from the folder, Aria first handed her a list writen solely with a pencil.
“Well, me and one of the nurses got a few ideas while the doc got all the other stuff. You can choose one of ‘em if you like. Thing is I need your signiature for a few things in the next few days, so you gotta have a name, if only temporarily.“
She nodded, even though she had heard only half of it, instead her attention was on all those new names she could take. She had had a few good looks of herself. As she had no memory of her own personality or skills, the next step would be to choose something close to her appearance.
I have red skin, redder and yellow hair. What fits with that?
She went through every single one, saying them under her breath to get a feel for them. Minutes passed as her selection became smaller and smaller. Eventually she made her choice.
Aria handed her a pen and the forms, both of which she gladfully took. Scribbling filled the room for a short moment and, just like that, she had suddenly a real name. Her heart almost burst with excitement and admittedly childish pride over her new privilege.
Aria took the forms, gave a few nodds and put them back into her folder.
“Alrighty then, Dawn Fire. I’m gonna give those back to the hospital and then we’ll be on my bike straight out of here.“
Dawn Fire found herself in something of a weird predicament. On one hand this felt amazing! On the other hand she was kinda literally holding onto her life. Because right now she was holding onto the one person willing to look out for her and help her establishing an entirely new existence, and because letting go right now was really not adviced for continued health.
Riding a bike was a very interesting experience and she wasn’t even the one driving. Instead she was seated behind Aria, arms slung around the other's waist, while they manouvered through the streets.
Dawn didn’t know how long they drove, ten minutes, twenty, twenty-five, maybe more. She was too busy enjoying the fuzzy feeling in her gut, the sight of store fronts and buildings passing by too fast to make out their names and details. Whenever Aria sped past a car or a traffic light turning to red, her heart accelerated. A part of her wanted to take of her helmet, to feel the sensation of the wind on her long hair. Yet she left it securely on her head. Aria had told her to do so.
It was only in those brief moments, when a red light commanded them to stop, that her sensational high faded and her thoughts wandered about the gravity of this ride. But when red turned yellow and yellow turned green, those thoughts were pushed away and adrenaline again filled every vain on her body.
But all things must come to a stop and in the end Aria pulled out of the streets into a small courtyard, which was bordered by three apartment buildings. The bike stopped and Dawn felt firm, solid ground beneath her feet once more. It was… a funny feeling.
The buildings surrounding her were not bad but not exactly beautiful, atleast from the outside. Yet this would be her home now. Her first real home… since ever… kinda...
There it was again, that strange feeling of severity. Until more memories returned to her, if that would even happen, she was living an entirely new life. She had no family, friends, foes, possessions, alliegences, money, proberty, relations, jobs, convictions; technically this was only her second day of being alive.
She was literally born yesterday! At that point her knees started to give out.
“Come on, almost there.“ Aria pulled one of Dawn’s arms over her shoulders in one fluid motion and began to enter the building. “We’re second floor.“
There were only two doorways per floor, hopefully that meant the apartments were decently spaced. Soon enough Aria fumbled out a small keychain, put one of them into the corresponding hole and sure enough, the door opened.
They immediately went for the sofa, past the small coat-rack, and Aria carefully set Dawn Fire down. The red-skinned girl looked around, silent but this time in no way dazed, this time she was fully aware of everything. If she were to be honest, it made it a bit more frightening.
But when she took in the room, her body began to settle down. This was a nice place. No actual pictures in sight, but a few small paintings here and there. Next to the coach was a rather luxurious looking reclainer, with an almost warming mulberry colour.
On her left was an opening where she could see into the kitchen area, which seemed fully stocked if a bit small, on her right a small hallway with the rest of the necessary rooms, presumebly.
A shuffling behind her made Dawn realize that Aria was gone. Looking on her shoulder she could see the fuchsia girl had finally hung up her grey coat. The difference between it and the clothing underneath was astounding.
Aria wore a sleeveless red top with black trims, the words Keep close your friends for a laugh and family for a hugprinted in blue on it. Her tight pants were a deep purple and had a few small stars on her hips. Aria crossed her arms before her chest, her face betraying no emotion.
“And? Like the place?“
“Y-yes, its very cozy.“ Dawn managed to get a few more glimpses of Aria’s arms, as her new roommate made her way into the kitchen area. The word „amazonian“ came to her mind. Then she saw the backside of Aria’s top, and therefore the rest of its inprint.
Cause the world is out to get you!
Supressing a childish giggle, Dawn’s mind began to drift around the room before settling on the hallway. She wanted to explore the other rooms, but wouldn’t that be rude of her? Also Aria might not like her snooping around personal stuff, and she liked Aria so far, she didn’t want any bad impressions or any conflict between them.
So instead, she laid back and closed her eyes, breathing in and out. She realized, the entire time she had been kept at the hospital, calmness had elluded her. There was no closure in waiting for nothing and anything at the same time, there was no relaxation when her existence could only be described as uncertainy. Now things were certain, some atleast. She had a home and quite possibly a friend, even if they would be nothing more than roommates it would be great.
But… there was something she thought she could feel in Aria. What irked her was a single sentence only a short time ago, in her hospital room.
“Also they know me, and since I have my own check ups here it would be kinda practical if you lived by me.“
Aria had said that so nonchalantly, as if she shared some detail that most would immediately forget about. Maybe she wanted just that to avoid uncomfortable questions, but why say it then? Aria looked completely healthy, no she was fit as a Martial Artist.
Maybe she IS a Martial Artist. Did she have an accident? I shouldn’t ask her anyways, if she doesn’t want to tell me…
Deep in thought, she turned her head towards the kitchen, only to see an intense purplish face almost in her own.
The sun began to set, tinting the sky in a wonderful orange glow. Dawn Fire and Aria Blaze were walking towards the Mall, intend on getting new clothes for the newest resident.
The bike ride hadn’t been nearly as great this time around, but Dawn kinda knew that was how things were for her now. It did not sadden her, she had things to concentrate on and look foward to.
There was not much talk as they got to one of the cloth stores. Aria seemed to be naturally taciturn, with a sort of grumpy and bored look, although when she did speak none of that was in her voice. Or when she decided to spook the other girl by sneaking up on her, then she had actually laughed. Well, it had been more of a cackle really.
Dawn herself was still fully taking in the world around her, almost hellbent on discovering little details as they walked by. But as they neared their destination a bit of nervousness came over her.
“A-Aria? I know I said you owed me for that scare, but I can still pay you back when I have some money. I don’t want to be a burden.“
Aria just shot her a short look, maybe grumpy was just her default expression when outside? They entered the store and walked right to the female section.
“You need them and I have more than enough. Now go on, pick something already.“ Her last sentence sounded so different all of a sudden. The fuchsia girl had turned while speaking and leaned against one of the shelves, crossing her arms and looked around with definite boredom.
Dawn felt… lost. Partly she was overwhelmed by all the choices, she had hoped to get a bit of help. Her memory was really fickle on simple and more mundane stuff such as some common knowledge. She could recount some facts or physical theories but could not remember how all the months of a year were named (she knew there were twelve, but three eluded her and she wasn’t sure if Octabia was the correct name). More importantly, trying to think what clothes she would need when it was Wind-, Wihner?... December!, caused her brain to run useless circles around itself.
Three forths of her mind that is, the last one was slowly sinking into doubts. Was Aria mad at her right now? It was so hard to tell.
She tried to breath and calm herself down, then turned towards her and asked rather timidly “Uh Aria? Could… could you help me a bit? I don’t think I know what would be necessary.“
This certainly triggered a response. The fuchsia girl in the grey trenchcoat turned towards her as if only now noticing that she still stood there. Surprisingly, her eyes slowly widened and her bored expression fell away to one of distressing… realization.
“I… S-sorry, I just… Lets get you some pants first.“ With that she took Dawn’s arm and carefully pulled her towards the corresponding articles.
Aria seemed to calm down from her almost shocked state as they steadily collected a small array of clothing pieces. Not much, Dawn insisted she would need only two or three of each, to which Aria responded with getting atleast one additional sample just to tease her.
But when Dawn peeked out of the changing stall, she could see the girl rubbing her face and shaking her head.
Taking the time for changing to safely think about all that happened, Dawn grew a bit worried. She was sure Aria had not meant it badly by letting her stand there, it seemed more like she was just used to do so when shopping with others.
And it wasn’t the only time this had come to Dawn’s attention. Early today, before Aria had talked with her about going the mall in the first place.
Absentmindedly she turned her head towards the kitchen, only to see an intense purplish face almost in her own. Dawn shrieked and fell from the coach onto the, thankfully, soft floor.
Aria just cackled and waited for her to get up. But when Dawn gave her an angry pout, which was only mostly serious as she couldn’t prevent herself from blushing, she spotted a small crack in Aria’s face.
For a mere moment, sudden sadness flashed in those purple eyes.
Dawn Fire donned the clothes lend to her and walked out of the stall.
“It fits. Is that enough now? I really don’t need that much clothing.“ Aria just nodded.
She seemed reliefed once they were out of the clothing store.
“Uhm… do we need anything else?“, Dawn asked tentively, she didn’t want to cause her roommate more discomfort right now.
“I’m starving right now. Lets get something to eat.“ With that Aria once again took point and lead the way into the food court. Dawn realized just now that the mall was positively massive! The Crystal Emporium.
Snapping back to attention, Dawn stopped herself just as Aria turned around. They were standing before a small restaurant that seemed to specialize in making various sandwiches.
“Pick what sounds good to you, my treat.“ Dawn opened her mouth but Aria just continued talking. “Don’t even attempt it, I pay.“ She smirked. “Or do you want to try and pay with your own money?“
Dawn huffed in played annoyance and simply picked the first one that sprung into her eye, not like she could remember what food she liked or not. It was a matter of trying and learning.
As they sat down and waited for the food, Aria took out a rectangular device that lit up and… AN I-PHONE! Smiling for her own little achievement, Dawn gave the fuchsia girl a curious look. But she would need to wait until their meals had arrived for Aria to say anything.
“So. I texted a couple of friends of mine. They were making a few errands in town anyway and they agreed to meet us here soon. Is that okay with you?“
“Hm? Yes, of course! Why shouldn’t it be?“ Dawn just received an unidentifiable motion.
They continued eating, but this time Dawn would not content herself by leaving things like that. She waited for Aria to finish chewing before shooting her next question.
“What can you tell me about them? How did you meet, what are they like and so on.“
Aria was currently mid-bite, looking a bit annoyed. Taking the bite regardless, she stretched out her chewing while giving Dawn a long stare, although the red girl was sure she saw those purple lips pulling upwards.
Finally swallowing, the trenchcoated girl took another look at her phone before answering.
“The only information you’re gonna get from me is this: They are really cool people, they are siblings. Also as a heads up, don’t let their outwards attitude put you off.“
Her new roommate nodded, thought for a bit, then she grinned. “So they’re like you? I mean you look so grumpy all the time, but I am sure you are more than that?“
Aria just stared at her, blank and emotionless. Looking down she gave her head a small shake before muttering a ‘somethin like that.‘ Dawn grew more and more worried as an akward silence enveloped their table. Luckily for them a voice heralded new arrivals coming towards them.
“Yo, Blaze! Whats up!“
The two girls that joined them could not have been any different, yet they shared a certain similarity with their bodies. Both were simply different complexions of the same colour, but their clothes and faces were quick to inform one about their personalities. The taller one had short bright hair and skin of a somewhat blueish grey tone, she wore dusty and slightly torn jeans and a T-shirt that revealed a bit of her shoulder. Her counterpart had simple grey for her skin, the hair was a darker tone and drapped on her left side of her head, although unlike with the other one, hers partially covered her face. She wore a long and plain dress that went down well past her knees.
Aria greated them with a nod and gestured towards two other seats. There was a bit of a delay as the smaller one hesitated, before Aria simply pulled Dawn to her side of the table. That seemed to do it, as the new arrivals finally set down.
“Okay girls, this is Dawn Fire. She will live with me for the forseeable future. Dawn, these are Limestone and Marble Pie. They are my best friends.“
Dawn held out her hand and tried a small smile. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.“
“Hey! So, Aria has decided to let you live with her, hm? Oh, I really want to know how that came to pass. That she finally found someone that she can stand spending her days in one room, never thought it'd happen. Marble, come on, I don’t think she will bite.“ The older-looking sibling said, prompting her sister with an elbow, albeit very gently.
The smaller young, Marble it seemed, raised a hand to a shy wave instead of shaking it, before hiding behind her personal hair-curtain. Nevertheless, they had asked her to tell her story and she saw no reason not to. If they were Aria’s friends, maybe they could be hers as well.
Next to her, Aria puffed her cheeks in played annoyance before she could say anything. “What is that supposed to mean Lime? I am able to be around people. I can tolerate you and your sisters just fine.“
“Oh, is that so now? You've begun to actually warm up us? Don't suppose I am your favorite?“
“No. Because unlike you, Marble can keep a quiet.“
Surprisingly, Marble was the first to break the silence with an almost cute little giggle, followed by her elder sister’s chuckle. Dawn, who had been feeling a tad uncomfortable through the whole exchange, gave a careful smile. After they had all calmed a bit, and the Pie sisters ordered their own food, the conversation from before was picked up again.
“Soo…“ Dawn said, thinking about how to tell what was pretty much her entire life story at this point. “To be honest it is a rather short story, albeit a really strange one I admit. I…I lost my memories. I just kinda… woke up somewhere yesterday. The only reason I know Aria is because of pure chance, really. Somebody found me and brought me to their home close by, Aria was working at the family’s mechanic I think, from there it was to the hospital. Today she visited me there, and since I wasn’t injured and not doing anything, she offered to let me live by her until my memories or my family comes back.“
This time, the silence was even longer, even more uncomfortable. Looking up, Dawn could see their reactions. Marble, as best as she could tell, looked at her with wide, sad eyes, meanwhile her sister seemed more shocked. They didn’t mean bad, she knew, but Dawn started to wish that she had not said it like this. It felt so akward, she wanted it to end, to talk about other things. She turned to Aria and gave her an almost pleading glance. Fortunately, her fuchsia-coloured partner seemed to understand the message and cleared her throat loudly, following up with another topic to talk about, although Dawn did not get all of it.
Soon enough, they all got up and started walking towards the entrance. While Dawn tried to initiate a conversation with Marble, which was not really successful, with the grey girl hiding behind her hair and the red-haired one not wanting to push too much, Limestone held back Aria until she was sure they could not be easily heard by their friends before them.
“Taking her in is awfully generous of you Aria. Are you really ok? Did you have any more-“
The trenchcoated snapped her head towards her. “I am fine, Marble!“
They walked for a while, watching their sister/roommate akward ‘conversation‘. It was when they already saw the entrance of the mall that Aria spoke again.
“It is still difficult Limestone. I didn’t really know how much I missed the concept of living with others until today, how much I miss them. Also… I don’t know how to say it, she intrigues me.“
Limestone gave her friend a really worried look, but before she could say anything her phone pinged. Looking at the display she sighed.
“Pinks said she will be here in a couple minutes. So, I guess you will be gone now. Just-just remember to take it easy and-“ She was cut off when Aria gave her a very short hug, followed by a pat on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry your head off, you’re not my psychiatrist. I have to see for myself how things will go. Bye!“
With that she turned and walked towards the exit, grabbing Dawn as she went. Marble took the opportunity to walk over to her sister and whispered something very quietly in the other's ear.
“I know Marbs, but she said it already. We have to see how things go.“
“How goes what thing? Where can you see it? I can see your friends just going over there. *GASP* YOU’VE GOT A NEW FRIEND?“
“Jeezus-! PINKIE! I TOLD YOU TO STOP SNEAKING UP ON ME!“
After spending several hours being confined to a single bed with virtually nothing else to do, Dawn Fire would have thought she would enjoy leaving such confines the moment it became possible and not necessary anymore. But she had been wrong, oh so very wrong.
Maybe it was the nice room this bed was standing in that made the difference. Maybe, it NOT being a hospital bed somehow evaluated its quality. It could also have the unconcious knowledge that her very existence wasn’t a single question mark anymore.
Point is, it was Wednesday, somewhere between morning and noon, and Dawn Fire tried her absolute hardest to remain in bed and fall again into beautiful sleep. The first part was relatively easy, the second one not so much.
In the end her body betrayed her, by simply waking up more and more. She grew increasingly restless, her limbs demanded movement and her brain wanted to actually do something. One particularly part did not grew tired of reminding her that one should not waste so much time with lying about.
And so, with a heavy heart, she made her way towards the outside of her room.
This heavy case of waking-up-melancholy vanished surprisingly quickly however, once her nose reported contact with the smell of something absolutely mouth-watering.
Pancakes!!
Her limbs certainly got the excercise they had wanted.
When Dawn finally reached the table with the desired content, granted it was the only actual table in the apartment, her nose and expectations were not disappointed. A plate with more than a dozen of those beautiful golden-brown pieces of food practically dominated the entire tabletop. Surrounding them were different condiments suited for such a breakfast. Chocolate creme, fruit marmelade, syrup and a couple more.
The sight was indeed promising, alluring even. So much so that Dawn found herself moving closer and closer towards the food while her stomach began to gurgle in anticipation, only to be stoped by a sharp voice.
“Touch them only if you’re ready for the consequences.“
Dawn’s head whipped around towards the kitchen entrance to find her host standing there, same clothes as yesterday, with her arms folded. Immediately her arms retracted back towards her body and in the air, while she took a precautious step backwards. Her stomach was not a bit happy with the sudden increase in distance to the mountain of breakfast, but in this case instinct recommended submission rather than escalation.
Upon seing that no immediate danger to her creation was imminent, Aria returned into the kitchen area. Just as Dawn started to weigh staying in the current position or following the allure, the fuchsia girl returned. In her hands she carried the resolution to the current conflict, a second plate of pancakes, which she sat down on the table near Dawn.
Aria then took her seat and promptly pulled the pile-plate towards herself, whilst also grabbing the first ingredient to enhance her breakfast. She only paused for a second after she noticed that Dawn still seemed to ponder her choices.
“Come on, eat! They’re not getting any better if you wait and I won’t chop your hands off.“ This did certainly break the dam. No ten seconds passed before the red girl had started to tear the first baked disk apart.
Her benefactor simply chuckled and did no move to stop her from doing so, only saying out loud to ‘slow down a bit‘. Something Dawn eventually did, perhaps a part of her mind that was not intoxicated by the taste of home-made goodness had remembered the severity of stuffing oneself with food.
Breakfast went along in almost gluttonous silence, until the red-gold haired girl decided to initiate conversation.
“So, is something planned for today?“ This was what she intended to say, at the least. What actually came out of her mouth could be understood as such, but only with a lot of fantasy. Or experience, as evidently Aria had perceived what had just been mumbled through a filled mouth.
“Not really something solid,“ she replied calmly. “I’ve got only a few things to do until the weekend, and I hadn’t planned that I will spend Christmas with another person in my apartment here.“ Looking up at Dawn she raised an eyebrow. “You do remember what Christmas is, right?“
The red girl nodded, she knew what it was. A celebration in the cold times of year, Winter! It was Winter!, where people decorated trees with nice lights and gifted each other presents. She was sure that it had some sort of religious tradition or background, nowadays though the present part was the most known thing about it.
Her eyes slowly went wide. The two girls looking at eachother, Dawn opened her mouth before Aria cut her off.
“If you’re thinking what I presume you’re thinking, no.“
“But its-“
“No offense, Dawn. But I don’t need a present from you.“
“Awwww…“ After that, no more was said, the only sound again being them eating. And eat they did, for the pancakes were truly delicious. At some point where Dawn started to put her toppings in the shape of little smiles and other small things. But eventually both plates were empty, with the last piece disappearing into the stomach of the table’s occupants.
The red and gold haired girl, after breathing a very long and contented sigh, immediately stood up and began to carry their dishes into the kitchen.
“Hey, Dawn?“ The same hair-framed face popped into the kitchen entrance, her long hair going almost comically straight towards the floor.
“Yeah?“
It took Aria ten seconds to recover from her snickering. But only ten seconds, after that her ususal stern and grumpy… no, she seemed more friendly for the lack of a better term.
“Let’s be honest here, even if I NEEDED a present, you have exactly no money to pay for anything. And trust me I don’t want a christmas present.“ Aria stood up and put her hands in pockets. “But I appreciate your enthusiasmus.“
She then took the rest of the table’s content to the kitchen and showed her new roommate where everything belonged to. Dawn just listened and tried to engrave it all into her mind. She was determined that if she could, she would help in the apartment. Aria could not forbid her this.
When she actually told Aria that, the fuchsia girl just fixed her with a deadpanned look that, for her, seemed to scream ‘Are you serious right now?‘. But, considering they had not a lot to do, she started initiating Dawn into the prospect of housekeeping (beginning with “what is where and what does it do?“).
Also important where the few house rules. Namely, Aria’s room is off limits unless permitted. Not that Dawn would have tried to sneak in anyway, that would have been disrespectful. Even though the curiosity to learn more was there.
There was also a third bedroom which, like the second one that now belonged to the apartments new resident, had been thoroughly cleaned out. There were a few signs that someone had once lived in them, but they consisted mostly out of bits of tape on walls and spots where one could imagine things like vases or additional furniture had once stood.
Dawn also noticed that most of the floor in the living room seemed a bit off. It simply stood out, like those particular sections were not as old as the rest. But since she could not think of any important reason, Dawn did not ask about it.
Sometime after they had finished the impromptu tour of the apartment, Aria received a call on her phone. It didn’t last long, yet Dawn was waiting the whole time with a mix of excitement and nervous anticipation.
“Steel Rain just called, asked if I could help him with a car in the shop. We can drop off their clothes when we’re there.“
This morning, fresh snow had fallen. Now the sky was clear, letting the sun shine onto the soft white covering, causing it to sparkle. In the midst of this, little Snowflake Breeze had danced in swirls around herself. Her silver and white streaked hair had matched the snow blanket, reflecting the sunlight in a truly incredible sight.
They had played for a long time, atleast that was how it felt to Dawn Fire. Dancing with the falling flakes and each other, forgetting everything on their minds and not minding all the people that saw them. It had been wonderful for them both, but eventually the dance had come to an end. Now they were sitting inside the living space of the House.
Snowflake’s mother, Blizzard Storm, had given them the task of creating more winter decorations from an assortment of stuff the family had either lying around, or collected for this very purpose.
It had taken a bit of time, as well as Snowflake’s expert knowledge and a healthy dose of trial and error, but finally Dawn had begun to get relatively good at constructing little decorations. She had no chance to beat her little partner of course, there was more than enough years of expertise between them.
But it was fun, that was what mattered. Although at one point, Dawn had kinda wandered of of the christmas theme and started to come up with other ideas. Not that this had hampered their vigor in the slightest. In fact, both girls were soon trying to out-create eachother, with their products getting increasingly complex and, if one were honest, absolutely ridicolous.
Snowflake had held true to her name and created a snowflake, made entirely out of glue and thin sticks, but as wide as her head. It held together remarkebly well.
Dawn on the other hand had made a tiny tree out of a pine cone, coloured foam and a nail for the foot, with it’s pointed tip driven into the cone itself. Snowflake had suggested they try to get appropriate christmas decorations for it later.
While the rosy girl had started to recreate an angel, complete with wings, Dawn had gotten the idea of trying to make a rider atop his horse. It had not gone that well. When Snowflake had seen the end result, she had noted that the rider’s legs were almost not to make out at all and seemed to just be a part of the animal, also it’s arms were overly long for a human. But Dawn took it all in good spirit, maybe because Snowflake had giggled cutely through her judgement, and because Dawn could not help but notice that the silver-white haired girl was currently misconstructing her wings a bit.
Nevertheless, between the two of them, mutliple constructs were created and subsequently most of them were given to Blizzard Storm to be put to use. The only exception were a few specific ones that Dawn had made. Most of them clashed with the current theme anyway, so Blizzard was more than okay with leaving them for Dawn’s personal use, as she had put it.
Snowflake however had been more persistent in her curiosity to know what her newly partner in fabrication had planned, and so she bombarded the cardinal-red girl with questions and puppy stares until she got her answer. Granted, Dawn hadn’t lasted that long under the glare of wide white eyes that gleamed like the snow outside.
“I want to make this to a present for Aria. This would be a good start, I mean I don’t really have a lot of means to get her something, but I just really want to give her something,“ she had said to the little girl. The response had been a look of, what Dawn could only guess, wonderous admiration? Something like that. Before she could stop the little whirlwind, she had run after her mother and returned with her self-made angel figure.
Atleast it was supposed to be an angel. Because of Snowflake being a tad distracted by its making, several things hade gone different then expected. The wings for example had not really formed into the shape they were intended to. Also they had lost almost of the small petals that should have been it’s feathers, because the glue had not dried properly. Overall, they reminded Dawn of wings that bats possessed, instead of a bird's fluffy ones.
But it was still a great little statue. And just like before, Dawn had literally not a single chance to convince the little girl, instead she fell to her stubborn will, again. It made her pray that she would never actually have to tell the girl a 'no', otherwise she'd be doomed.
Next, Snowflake had shown Dawn Fire a couple of christmas songs she knew. And soon, the two of them were happily sitting outside again, singing one after another. In front of them the courtyard, its surface marked by dozens of snow angels. Their playlist rapidly expanded, as time grew on, yet they still had enough energy to never falter in their duet. Not only that, but Dawn got more and more into it as her, frankly lacking, voice seemed to clear up.
So much so, that the surroundings just seemed to melt together. The only thing remaining was her, Snowflake and the bench their were sitting on. Her voice actually seemed to be rather comfortable with the constant singing, and not as lacking as it had been at first.
There was also something warm inside her chest. As long as she sang, it seemed to vibrate in the rythm of their melody. Maybe that was why she didn’t feel cold at all. In fact she had never felt cold this entire day, not even after spending a couple of hours playing down in the snow and lying in it. Sure she had been moving all the time, but she knew that she should have been chilled to some degree.
Or atleast she would have known this, if she had not been wrapped up in singing happy little songs with a similarly happy little girl.
When Aria was finally finished with her work in the mechanic bay, with the old Steel Rain still apoligizing for having to call her over, she carefully stepped through the minefield of snow angels that had once been the family’s concrete yard. Not that she terribly minded it, or atleast she didn’t seem to.
But with Aria done, it was time to go. It was not like anyone had a lot of things to do this very day, but Aria thought it’d be best to get any groceries now while they were already out and about. So, goodbyes were said and hugs (well, one hug) were exchanged, before the two adult-ish girls drove away on their bike.
Dawn had to hide the angel alongside her other products in her new coat. Luckily she had been provided with a box to carry them all safely. It felt a bit akward, trying to hide something from someone, while riding on their bike behind them. It also felt kinda stupid, hiding things from the one person who was giving her all these chances. But, it also felt... right?
It wasn't like she was hiding a terrible secret from Aria. She wanted to surprise her. Make her a gift, to show her appreciation for all that she was given. That was not a bad thing, she could not think of a way how it could be.
She just wanted to be a friend to Aria.
The next day, they were on the bike again. Though this time, their destination was not so close as any time before, in fact it wasn’t even in Canterlot at all. Instead they were driving towards a decently sized mountain range, which was located maybe fifty minutes away from the city. Most people would consider this a rather isolated location to live, in the midst of rocky hills and rockier mountains. And while fifty minutes were not exactly a very long way, they would be correct in a way. This area was not really an extremely populated one.
But there were still those that lived and worked here. One such family were the Pies, Limestone and Marble’s parents to be exact. They were rock farmers. Although this sounded way more exotic than it really was.
Their buisness was divided into two branches. The larger one was responsible for most of the income, by selling stone and gravel as building materials for projects of all kinds, be it modern concrete blocks or the restauration of more ancient ones. The second and older part was responsible for the producing of custom stone plastics, statues, decorations, even gravemarkers. This branch was also located at the Pie residence, the place where both Aria and Dawn were currently headed to.
It was very early in the morning. Early as in, the sun was just now rising, tinting everything in an orange glow.
Not that the girl with the similar fire-y complexion took too much wonder or notice to the scenery around here. She was too tired for that. Incidently, even with the helmet on, resting her head onto the back of her roommate proved to be really comfortable, as long as she held herself in a stable position. So for her, the near hour of travel went by uneventful and mercifully fast.
Dawn was impressed by the rock farm, to say the least. It was vast, peaceful and quiet when compared to even the calmest parts of Canterlot.
She was even more impressed with the Pies. Their house seemed old and small, but when she had been inside she had seen how deceiving the building was. And spaceous, it was surprisingly spaceous. There were two other buildings that looked to be similar in style and age. Limestone had told her what they were. One housed the vehicles and machines alongside other heavy equipement, while the other contained the main stone workshop of the family, where custom orders would be fullfilled by the expert masons under the families payroll.
Most the entire family seemed to be present on this day. Limestone had greeted Aria and Dawn and introduced them to the rest of the Pies. Igneous Rock Pie was the patriach of this land, the house, the buisness and a mountain of a man himself. In his prime he would have towered over all of them. Now, though considerably smaller and a bit haunched, he still seemed to be entirely fit to work in a quarry. And according to Limestone he was indeed still in action besides managing the finances and deals, only that he now worked in the workshop on special orders only.
His wife was not quite as large, but certainly as headstrong as he was, if not more so. She also sported the brightest of the grey tones in the family, leaving Igneous with his yellow-brownish hide as the only exception. That was with the assumption that Limestone and Marble’s other siblings were also grey-skinned.
Speaking of the other members of the Pie sisters, Dawn was happy to learn that three out of four were accounted for on this day. Yet it would be a few hours into helping around with general work in the house before she could get a glance on even one of them.
As Limestone had explained, today was the day where the last important contracts of this year had to be finished, as well as the decoration and preparation for the upcoming holiday. Thusly her two sisters were outside or in the workshop, this was also were Aria quickly headed of to. Dawn was instead stuck in the house with Igneous‘ wife Cloud Quartz. She had not thought that much of it, until Limestone also left to somewhere and she was now alone with the family's matriach.
Apparently one of the sisters had told their parents of her predicament, only in the roughest summary, but still. And Miss Quartz now took it upon herself to use the time with Dawn to learn more from her, about herself. And with that, she meant performing an interrogation while piling task after task onto the poor girl.
This went on until break-time, which was in the afternoon. Luckily Miss Quartz’s well of questions didn’t last all of the time, unluckily it lasted about three-forths of it. It was really surprising how much the matriarch seemed to be able to do at the same time. Just as surprising as to how much she could talk without end, while also preparing food and organizing the house, or that Dawn had been able to endure it all. Although when the break did arrive, she felt as if she had run a marathon. Maybe she had, in a way.
Eventually the break rolled around and with it sweet freedom. Sadly for Dawn, not all Pie sisters showed up. Marble was nowhere to be seen, but she could spot the third sister of the clan. And truly, this one also had the complexion of grey. This time it was a bit darker for the skin, though surprisingly her hair was of a dull purple. The girl was too far away to make out more and it seemed she had other things to do than eating.
Lunch consisted of scrambled eggs, bread and butter, apple slices, beans and a couple of sausages. Those in particular were… new to say the least. Dawn weirdly felt herself hesitating to eat them, but she wasn’t really sure why. Hadn’t she eaten meat when she and Aria were shopping? Had She?
Honestly, she couldn’t remember. Was that a bad sign? A relapse?
Maybe she was just overthinking things.
“Are you gonna eat them or what?“ Limestone asked.
Dawn didn’t give her a clear response but continued pondering. Eventually she reached out with her fork and lifted one piece to eye level. Several seconds passed. Then she stuck it into her mouth and began chewing.
The taste was… strange. Not really bad in any way, she just felt like she shouldn’t eat it. Which was weird, because why shouldn’t she? Had she been a vegetarien? No matter how she thought about it, Dawn could not find a sound conclusion to this. Could it be that her body was kind of allergic against this stuff? Would it be bad if she swallowed it right now?
Only one way to find out.
“… Hm.“
Nothing happened.
“Wow,“ Aria said with a full mouth, her eyes rolling in a exasperated fashion. “Most dramatic consumption of food, I've ever seen. Please tell me that is not going to be constant, alright?“
Dawn just shrugged and finished her lunch. Their break was almost over and she had already lost interest in the meat question.
Maybe that was why she didn’t noticed that Aria had snatched every other sausage from her plate.
Dawn’s next assignement was in the workshop itself. The last orders were already finished and on their way, now it was her job to go in there to clean all the rubble out. This promised to be far more physically taxing than the household work she had done before, but the red girl was excited to see what the workshop looked like.
It did not disappoint her. A nice spacious room, with two pedestals of sorts, where she guessed larger stone would be carved into statues or similar. Around them were wall-mounted grids with all manner of tools, from electronical to more classical options. Several workbenches complete with stools made a sort of circle around the pedestals in the room’s center.
Small stones and debris were scattered all over, at some spots completely covering the floor, and they crunched beneath her work boots. A sort of dust covered the work places, muting the colour of the furniture. This was what Dawn could see, as she walked through the workshop at a slow pace. What, or rather who, she could not see right now was Marble, who was supposed to be here too.
“Marble, are you here?“ Dawn asked into the room. Instead of an answer she just heard a shuffling on her right, as well as the sound of boots on the gravel. It wasn’t hard to pinpoint Marble’s exact location, since there was not that much cover for her in any direction.
Still, Dawn decided to refrain from going too close. Limestone had recommended that, and Dawn didn't need to be overly smart to understand the hidden warning. But unfortunately, she had to tidy up this place, and with this stand-of things would get a bit more complicated.
“Uhm… Igneous told me to clean the workshop with you, if it's alright I would just do that and you can… do what you want to?“ Uncertainty was almost radiating from both of them. After a few seconds a fast blur shot out from behind the workbench, flying in a high arc before clacking against the thick wooden wall further on Dawn’s right.
The red girl hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to put this, until a second blur went in roughly the same direction as the first, also producing a resounding clack. When Dawn turned her head into the direction of the shots, she could see a wall cabinet besides the entrance shutter, with several buckets and brooms and other cleaning utensils.
“Alright then, I will just clean here then. I uh, I’ll try not to disturb you.“
Over the next couple hours, Dawn slowly cleaned the floor of the workshop from any rubble that remained. It was rather tedious and slow work, but also rythmic and if she were honest it was nice to do. During this, Marble never once showed herself, although the girl was far from useless.
It was actually amazing how fast and sneaky she could move. All the while she was directing her redhead-assistant, showing her trhough several piles of rubble that the bigger stones were to be kept divided by their types, judging from the visual differences. Dawn was sure that there were books and countless information to determine what was what, but right now she simply followed the instructions and soon several piles of differently coloured stone stood proud in the workshop.
Marble had also at some point managed to obtain a bucket, filled it with water and soap, and started to clean the workbenches one by one. Dawn found it difficult at first, since the grey girl would only clean when not being seen, but soon she just started to sweep in coordination with her. While Dawn was clearing one side, Marble was cleaning the bench on the opposite side. To ensure that she did not accidently spot and thus scare the shy Pie, Dawn started to whistle little melodies that she remembered from her singing with snowflake everytime she began to move around, so the girl knew when the other's back was turned or not. This tactic seemed to work well, as the place got cleaner with each minute passing by.
The rubble had been swept into small mountains that sprouted all over the floor, now it was time to collect it and be done. Large sacks were used for this task. Dawn very quickly got very glad that as of now, her orders were to simply put them outside of the workshop. Those sacks got too heavy way too fast.
But she managed and so the mountains vanished. One, then two, then two more, then three more and so on. It took quite a bit of time and a lot of sweat, Dawn had already stripped herself to the working trousers and the shirt after hauling the first one away. During this she could not really pay attention to what her co-worker was up to. But at the last she was finally done.
Sweating profusly, her arms straining after all the hard work, Dawn slumped down against the side of one of the benches to catch her breath.
A rhytmic knocking coming from the other side startled her, before she realized that it could only be Marble Pie.
“Eh, hey.“
Nothing.
“Are… are we done?“
One knock.
“That means yes?“
One knock again.
“Does that mean yes?“
One knock. This one sounded frustrated, if that was even possible.
“Can‘t you just say even a bit?“ Dawn asked.
Two knocks, without the slightest hesitation.
“Guess that means no.“
One knock.
“Figured.“ Dawn sighed.
A pause. The red girl could hear muffled rumaging on the other side.
“Sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable.“
No response.
“How do you even go out in public? No offense meant but, when you’re this uneasy with only one person.“ Dawn said, mostly to herself at this point. The noise got a bit louder for a moment. Then something slided down the floor at Dawn’s right side. A little block of papers. The upmost note had words scribbled onto it.
I manage shw
L is good 2 have near
not many look a me, feel invisible
persnl is more difficult
specially when in persnl space
sry
“Oh. You don’t have to be sorry, you know? If you’re scared of people thats okay, I guess. I should be sorry, I did not know when I tried to speak to you in the mall. That must have been hard for you. I am really sorry for that.“ Dawn read the short note again before sliding the block back to Marble.
“And you’ve got Limestone with you. I mean, I don’t even know you for that long, but I know that she cares a lot about you. And she also cares about Aria, I think.“
Dawn was sure she heard a “Mhm“ from the other side. It was actually really cute.
As silence stretched out again, Marble seemed to start working on something. It may have been something with stone, but Dawn could not be sure. With nothing left to do, her mind started to wander and wonder.
“Hey… Marble?“ The clicking sound stopped, leaving the red girl to assume that the other was listening.
“I don’t want to intrude… I mean really, it has been only a couple of days since I even met Aria, or you and Limestone, or since I recall anything… but, I’ve noticed a few things with Aria. I, uhm… when we were getting clothes for me, she sort of just… slipped away. I mean like, she just stood there and looked bored, as if she just waited for me to get it done. But then she reacted so… weird, when she saw that I was lost. Like, she was just realizing that something was wrong… or different or something.“ Dawn sighed frustrated.
“I don’t know how to say it. She… she just acts like she is expecting something else to happen, like a routine. But when she notices it, she is lost? I really don’t want to ask her, because I don’t want to cause her trouble or something and we don’t even know eachother that much but-“
The noteblock slided to her again. Dawn was surprised to find not the short texts from before, but a small paragraph in a gentle, curley handwriting.
We do care about Aria, and she cares about us. Lime and me helped her a lot since we met her, about 1 ½ months ago. She was in a bad situation then, is doing better now, working helps keep her mind straight. Its good that you’re respecting her privacy, but don’t worry. She cares about you, trust me. Aria can be even grumpier and more hostile than Lime at times, but she wouldn’t have given you this opportunity if she didn’t like you. She was a bit lonely in her home.
Thank you for understanding. Her privacy, but also my things. This is as much as I can say right now.
She did not know how to feel after that. This told her nothing and a lot at the same time. Sliding back the block, she loosened her red and gold hair from the working-ponytail she had for this task.
More minutes ticked by, accompanied by the rythimc sounds of Marble working. Dawn continued to think about all she knew, about Aria, about herself. It was frustratingly little.
Even worse, a small piece of doubt began to worm itself into her mind. If Aria had been in a bad place, was that why she had been in the hospital? If so, and with her former roommate's recent depature, Aria had to deal with a lot. Would she even want to be Dawn's friend now?
Her thought process was interrupted however, when three rock were pushed over the concrete floor right beside her. Each was of a nice reddish colour and looked smooth. A small note laid besides them, this one also in Marble’s handwriting.
It’s spinel. Very beautiful when you know how to work it. Just a little thx for the work and for you being so understanding with me. I found them in the rest and they reminded me of your colour.
Dawn took the three stones and turned them in her fingers, as a small, genuine smile formed on her face.
“Thank you Marble.“
Her eyes fell upon the clock and she realized that it was already starting to get a little late. Standing up from her, admittedly not very comfortable sitting place, Dawn got an idea.
“Marble? Would it be okay if I make them into a little gift for Aria? I-“ A giggling sound eminated from where Marble was, which Dawn took as a positive answer.
Hushed voices whispered to eachother. Feets shuffled around. A group of youngsters and a few older people stood before a house. One of the bigger ones, even in this street. It had two stories and, most likely, also a nicely sized basement and attic. Its facade seemed old yet sturdy and well maintained, giving the building the vibe of an old mansion that been there since the beginning and, when you would enter it, would swallow you and unleash horrors and/or wonders one might find in movies.
And there had been a few myths and stories around this particular house, mostly told by teenagers to eachother, speculating on the dark and mysterious history of the estate.
Yet this group still stood there, making themselves ready as they had done so many times already. Forming two lines in the snow, huddled together for warmth, a smoke cloud eminatting from their mouths, they prepared for what was to come.
One of them, the oldest and most experienced walked towards the door. He turned around, looked at the group who nodded in affirmation. Taking in a deep breath, he ringed the door bell.
Silence. Flakes floated down all around them, joining the thick layer of white already here. Not many cars were active, a good portion were simply the city’s workers trying to keep the streets clear.
So they all heard the thumping sound approaching the door. Everyone inhaled.
The door opened, revealing a young woman with long purplish hair with cyan streaks in it, and skin of a lighter purple hue.
Immediately the group sprang into action, as each member started to sing. A beautiful, well practised christmas carole filled the air. Those people who were walking by in the frigid cold turned and listened to the song.
For about ten seconds tops. Then the door slammed shut.
“Well. We tried. Thats what counts, I guess.“ The leader said, somewhat downtrodden. The carolers slowly turned around and made their way off the lawn, many with similar repressed moods.
“She really didn’t have to be so rude. I mean everyone else here was rather kind.“
“Yeah. Even if they don’t want to listen they usually give a little donation.“
“To be honest the owners of this estate are always like this. IF they’re even home at all.“
“I just don’t understand some people, really they don’t have to be so... ugh!“
“Atleast they didn’t shoot crossbows at us.“
That earned the man several odd stares from many of the younger members. He just sighed, with a face that read very clearly Don’t ask me right now.
Then they heard the sound of a door opening and slamming shut again, from right behind them. Immediately they turned around, some of them even before the door was shut again, their bodies in a pose that looked like they were expecting to run away really fast.
Luckily, here did not seem to be a particular reason for them to take flight, atleast on first glance. No one had stepped out of the house and the lack of actual crossbow bolts flying through the air certainly helped to put the carolers more at ease. That was when they noticed the small basket sitting on the front porch, a white cloth draped over it.
The group shared several glances. This was beyond suspicious, even more so since the person who put the basket there had retreated back into safety immediately. The reputation and experience with this house just added up on the paranoia and the voice telling them to just go.
On the other hand, even those, especially those, that had endured those past interactions were now itching to take just a small peek under the cloth. In the end curiosity proved stronger.
Like a group of shy wild life they made their way towards the house again. Slowly, ten meters, then eight, then five, then three, then they stopped. A particularly brave, and young, member tip-toed his way towards it, reaching with a gloved hand that trembled slightly with anticipation.
It met the veil and held onto one of the corners. White breath filled the air as the young man waited, internally counting to ten, then fifteen. Then he ripped the veil away.
The rest of the group couldn’t see past him into the basket, but he hadn’t screamed very loudly. Neither had the basket exploded, so that was good. Then they saw him straightening again, seemingly holding something, before he finally turned towards them.
The basket was containing a sizeable collection of small nuts, oranges and wrapped chocolate of various flavors and sizes. Money bills were strewn between the contents, wrapped in several rolls and each sporting a little bow. The center of it all was dominated by a chocolate-santa, who was strangely lying on a santa hat with a bell at the end.
The sight of this gift melted the carolers bad mood almost instantly, as they quickly collected the bills and secured the goods in their bags. Several began to start their song again and soon the sweet melody once again filled the streets.
Singing, smiles on their faces and their hands waving towards the seemingly empty mystery house, the group made their way onwards on their route. Only one of them stopped for a minute when they reached the street.
He looked down to his hands, which were clutching the belled hat. His eyes were fixated on the two holes that cut through the fabric in a straight line. His right hand stroked over his bare head absentmindedly. Then he looked towards the house again, where he had lost it, and now found it again.
A genuine grin slowly etching itself on his mouths, he put the hat onto his head and quickly followed his group.
Shouts echoed through the hall, cries of pain, orders and yells filled the air. Mixed with the constant tack tack tack tack tack it created a cacaphony of sounds. Several dozen people were running around, all clad in some sort of clothing or gear that covered most of their bodies and marked in one colour or another, alongside a symbol of sorts.
It seemed like the battlegrounds was just a chaotic mess. But well, it seemed like that. If one were to continue watching from a good spot, say directly above them, they could recognize a sense of organisation. Three different colours, three smybols, three teams. Each of them held a strongpoint of sorts, a particularly large building or something like that. At this point, the teams stored small marked boxes which were the main priority of all this.
It was simple really, get the boxes to your own base, hinder the others from doing the same with your boxes. And how to do this?
Tack tack tack tack tack tack tack tack
tack tack tack tack tack tack tack tack!
From her vantage point above the battlefield, Dawn watched the flanking attack of the green team falling apart as their bodies were painted red. Eight bodies slumped, the unlucky players squirming and groaning under the pain inflicted by the enemy’s firing line.
Almost immediately, most of the impromptu ambushers surged foward towards the ground of their recent attackers. They were trying to take advantage from their small win and elimination of eight enemies, to find any weakpoint in the green’s defense caused by sudden understrength. This was how it had went for the entire time that Dawn had watched the game and probably hours longer than that. Small probes, ambushes and subsequent counterattack.
This was how the battle was fought at the flanks. Then there was the center grounds. Stretching her back a little, Dawn began to walk along the metal catwalks above the battlefield towards another spectator who stood where she could view the entire hill.
“Sooo, how often does she do this?“ The red girl asked her… driver? She was still not sure what she could consider Limestone as, or even Marble. For that matter, she did not know what she could consider Aria, other than her generous roommate and kinda caretaker, maybe adoptive family member?.
Hrmp! Concentrate!
Luckily for her, Limestone had not turned to see her briefly flushed face, instead she was sweeping her gaze across the fake landscape underneath them. Mimicking her, Dawn put down her arms on the railing and leaned foward to take in the chaotic mess underneath her.
“Kinda regularly, once a week, sometimes more, sometimes she doesn’t go. Told me that she has been trying to come here more often in recent weeks, to be more active and that.“ The grey girl said in her usual, yet somewhat misleading, grumpy tone.
Dawn nodded and looked over the center of the field, an artificial hill of sorts with many boulders and sandbags making it into a bastion and thusly the sight of the heaviest shootouts. At the moment blue and green dominated the area after red had been pushed out, and the two sides were locked in a deadly battle (figuratively). It was a complete mess and a spectacle to behold, atleast from up above it.
It was like a game of tug of war. Back and forth, forth and back, again and again. Players were shot in rapid succession, leaving them to try and get back to their territory without receiving too many extra shots. A task just as difficult as actually making any gains it seemed, as the returning players were prime targets for the opposition. The fact that they clearly were hit already did not seem to be overly cared for by everybody else.
Luckily for the ‘casualties‘, fresh fighters arrived almost constantly. And an enemy that shot back at you was certainly a much more important target than one running for safety.
“Ah! There is she is.“ Immediately, Dawn turned her head towards the direction that Limestone pointed towards. “Next to the crashed car, the one with light blue and yellow stripes on her shoulders, see?“
A hail of red bullets flooded the center battleground, as a warcry was roared into the air. A massed assault curtesy of the red team stormed towards the fortified position. At first her senses where overwhelmed by the explosion of colour and movement, only after a couple of minutes did she spot Aria.
The girl was letting her paintgun rattle empty into the enemy lines, or rather the mess that was the middle ground. Leaving the safety of cover she sprinted foward, while loading a new paint magazine with practised motions. One vault over the first line of sandbags and she was in the point itself, right in the brutal close quarters fighting.
Her mind was completely in fight-mod as she advanced alongside her comrades. The flag point was almost instantly swept free from members of the opposing team, with the reds simply firing until literally nothing remained standing, very much to the pained chagrin of the previous combatants. But this was the easy task.
The hard one was reserved for her.
The ground surrounding the flag platue was a maze of trenches lined with sandbags. Although spacious enough for two people to walk side-by-side, it was claustrophobic in the heats of battle. It was also easy to lose one’s orientation. But not Aria, she had fought here more than enough to find her way through them without hesitation, although she simply relied on her gut and instinct than any actual plan.
And so she fought, an endless task of scouring the trenches clean of anything not red. Soon she was alone, the ones beside her either shot already or lost to their own devices. But she didn’t notice or care. With her gun in one hand, barrel balanced on the other that held her soft and painted blade, she reaped her toll.
For half an hour, it went on and on. The constant gunfire report. The shouts and screams. People yelling, begging others not to shoot them (more then necessary). Trench after trench she cleansed in crimson red. Only when she saw someone in similar red gear did she not shoot and as time ticked on those became more and more.
Eventually she found herself at one of the entrypoints to the most inner and raised platform, where the marker for the exact center stood tall and proud.
“How’re the trenches?“ One of her comrades yelled, all the while shooting towards the enemy. She quickly took cover next to him. The center was practically a dinner plate if you were unlucky or not careful enough.
“Mostly clear!“
It was also currently held exclusively by the red team, just like the surrounding defensives. While this was good on for them, it also meant that the enemy had more troops to spare right now. And in this battle it always resulted in one thing-
“INCOMING!“
Aria ducked down, as did everyone else. Blue splashed over red, feet trampled. The opening barrage had begun. Just like any other time. They knew what would come after that. The red team had just finally cleared the center, now they already had to defend it to the last fighter.
BROOOP! A deep and gutteral sound echoed over the battlefield. It was a signal, the last twenty minutes had begun. It also meant…
“GET TO THE CRATES!“ Aria was up and sprinting before the words were even shouted, as were many others. They cared not for the bullets now, even though three of them were claimed by them mid-sprint. Soon the first reached the flag, around which there were three heavy boxes that had remained closed the entire match. Until now.
Already the locks were open, so nothing held them back from opening the lids and claiming the content. The rest of the red team rose up as one, trying to provide cover for them, and started firing back into the two masses that swarmed the middle of the field.
Likely, every single combatant was present now. This was the last battle.
“We’ve got it!“ The comrade next to Aria shouted as they once more dove behind the cover of the sandbages with their precious cargo. Already she could hear the enemy closing in on them, the first were already in the trenches.
It was good if they were. Those who weren’t would not last long, not now. Not anymore.
Three figures, clad in red, rose above the cover. The contents of the three boxes were in their hands, three bulky contraptions. Heavy machine guns.
And in unison they opened fire, tearing through the mass in front of them in a hailfire of red.
Now the rest of the team surged foward. Either directly into the trenches to engage in close quarters again or over them and towards those currently assaulting their position.
Aria plunged inbetween the narrow walls, a frenzy of movement all around her.
A second deep and more threatening BROOOOOP! Echoed in the building. It signaled the beginning of the end. Now, anyone who was down, stayed down.
It meant almost nothing to her. She fought like always.
Her gun had finally run dry completely, she had been fighting non-stop for hours, it had been too long since she had even the chance to return and restock. Yet it didn’t mean that she couldn’t fight.
And so she dashed through the corridors with only her blade, jumping over the bodies of those already defeated. The sounds of combat grew ever thinner, slowly but surely. But there always seemed to be another one, and then another.
She didn’t know how long until almost all sounds were gone, and she finally stopped.
The clacking of the paintguns were not a constant anymore. Rather, sudden bursts signaled the moment of two players suddenly meeting and exchanging paint. Then everything went silent again, with atleast one player less.
Carefully, Aria poked her head out above the sandbags to look around. She could not spot anyone still standing. That meant everyone who was left was either in cover or…
“WHOA-!“ The green player jumped as he carefully rounded the corner and just saw red darting towards him. His pellets went wide, yet her blade struck true and painted a thin red line over his chest.
Tack! Tack! Tack!
It was over soon after.
The truck of the Pie family slowly pulled into its usual parking spot, the two sisters who had been driving it stepped out as soon as the engine was turned off. They immediately went to unstrap the motorbike that had been transported on the truck’s loading platform, while the other two occupants also left the cabin.
Aria moved in to help lift her bike onto the ground, she had been too exhausted from the previous match to make the drive to the quarry right afterwards. So she and Dawn had gladly taken the offer of Limestone to use the family vehicle instead.
This was also Dawn’s first real meeting with the third sibling of he family, Maud Pie. Maybe her experiences with Limestone and Marble should have atleast warned the girl somewhat to expect an unusual monochrome attitude with the other two sisters. But there was no preparing or bracing oneself for the first meeting with a member of the Pies, Aria could attest to that herself.
Maud was devoid of emotion, atleast that was how she came across. Only the gods, and her sisters, were able to read anything on her face, the rest of the world would forever be subjected to her unnerving and dull expression. The only way to make her creepier would be by making her eyes widen all the time.
Now that would be properly creepy. Not that Aria minded terribly. In fact she rather enjoyed Maud’s non-expressing manner. She actually enjoyed the company of most of the Pie family for different reasons.
Limestone, she could harmonize with in some aspects: general attitude, music, behavior and things that one liked and could talk about. Marble was best socialized with on her own terms, while one self acted as if one was around a wild animal. One that was more afraid of you than the other way around. Meaning once you could get her to trust you and did not agitate her, she was very nice to have around, especially when all you wanted was peace and quiet.
As the group moved towards the house however, they could spot not only another truck parked in front of it, but also two girls talking to each other.
They were easily to distuingish and Aria was not at all happy to see both of them, even though she was prepared for the presence of one. With a frown she started to move in position, behind Limestone at an angle in which it would be difficult to make out her form. Maud also moved in to cover her better. It was too late that either of them seemed to realize that one of them was neither aware of what they were doing or knew how to respond to it in any way.
Dawn was in fact weirded out a lot by the behavior of the others. Yet before she could ask them, thus maybe spoiling the wanted effect and creating an interesting situation, she was spotted by the two figures talking in front of her.
One of them stood out from the surrounding mess of snow and greyish rock that was the quarry, by being almost completely pink. A massive pink ponytail that looked like cotton candy instead of hair bobbed up and down with the girl’s swift movement, just as Dawn realized that the girl was currently sprinting towards her. The only other details that she could make out was that the girl wore no clothing appropriate to the current temperatures and that she had a small crocodile attached in her hair. Then she was already stopping, only milimeters in front of the red girl’s face.
“HI THERE! *GASP* I know you! You were in the mall not so many days ago! Are you a new friend?“ It seemed like she had spoken everything in one single breath, at a speed which made it really difficult to sort out all the words. And as soon as she finished sucking in air through her shocked face, the cascade of sentences continued without missing a beat. “I didn’t even tell what my name was! I am really sorry, normally that is one of the first things I do, but I saw you and then I remembered that I saw you before and I really wanted to ask you some questions! Like, are you friends with my sisters? What do you do? What flavor of ice do you like? When is your birthday? Did we ever meet eachother, because you kinda remind me of someone, but oh! Please don’t count that time at the mall because only I saw you and you didn’t see me atleast I think you didn’t. Also would you like to be friends and what is your name? My name is Pinkie Pie, sorry for forgetting, nice to meet you!“
It took Dawn several seconds to process the influx of words. In that span she just stared at the girl in front of here, the pink hand stretched towards her escaped Dawn’s mind entirely.
“Uuhhhhh… I’m… Dawn Fire?“ was everything she could come with at the moment. Her eyes left the feverishly nodding, and bouncing, girl in front of her and looked towards the rest, seeking someone familiar like a lifeline.
Alas, it seemed that Aria had disappeared into the house already, alongside Maud. Limestone leaned against the railing of the porch and slowly shook her head, both annoyance and understanding in her eyes. However it was the other girl that spoke up with a country accent in her voice.
“Geez, Pinks. Way ta give that girl a real scare.“ She had simple blonde hair and light orange skin, with an old stetson hat placed on top of her. She was also clad in more responsible winter attire, unlike the pink one she had talked with mere seconds ago.
“Too late, man. I think she just overloaded her brain. Should have warned her that could happen.“ Limestone said as she walked towards her, now very sheepishly looking, sister and started to gently lead Dawn into the house.
They only got a few steps before Pinkie ran besides them, then walking backwards so she could face them.
“I am SO sorry. I know, I can be a handful sometimes, but I really want this to be a nice christmas and I wanted to get to know you. We’re going to do this again inside, this time I’ll be better, I promise. Okie? Great!“ She turned and started running across the snow and into the house, all while yelling “BYE JACKIE! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!“
Said country girl could not stop chuckling as she put her own coat into the open cabin of the truck. Turning to the last two girls she tipped her hat. “Well, Ah’ll be going now, I guess. Don‘ worry girl, if she’s promising somethin she keeps it.“
“T-thank you miss Jack. Have a nice christmas too.“ Dawn said. She was certain she that she had recovered from the little shock just now. Limestone seemed to also feel that and moved towards the house on her own, intend on getting out of the cold.
“Ah shoot, right.“ The blonde country girl said, extending a hand towards the red head with an open smile. “M’names Applejack Apple, of the Sweet Acres Apple Clan, just call me Applejack. We’re related with them Pies here and I’m good friend with Pinks. Nice to meetcha, can I ask for ya name?“
“Dawn Fire, also nice to meet you.“ She said with an equally warm smile, shaking the hands of the other. “I’m… invited to the family, by association I guess.“
Applejack cocked her head a little in confusion, not fully understanding.
“It’s personal. I don’t know them very long but they are really nice people… and kinda the only option right now.“ Dawn answered a bit meekly, all the warmth in her seemed to dissipate suddenly as she stared away. Luckily, the country girl seemed to understand.
Patting her shoulder, she said: “Well, then you got one of the best families to take you in, trust me on that. Don’t worry on nothin‘ today, enjoy it.“
Finally climbing into the truck, she closed the door and started the motor before slowly turning in the driveway.
“Happy Christmas to ya, Dawn Fire. I’m gonna bet we’ll see eachother again, the Apples will visit tomorrow.“ And with that she drove off towards her own farm. Dawn waved after her.
Upon finally entering the warmth of the Pie family's home, Dawn was directed towards the living room by Maud. Aria was already in the kitchen, lending her hands to the matriarch for the dinner, while Mr. Rock was setting the table with Limestone. Marble hushed around like a ghost, carryieng things and making the last decorations. For her comfort, Dawn always tried to not pay her any attention and avert her own eyes.
Setting down on one of the couches, she saw Pinkie sitting close to her. In her pink hands was a leatherbound book, in which the girl was writing.
Watching her, Dawn felt a slight tingle in her chest, almost where heart was. Her hands were getting anxious, a sense of longing filling her.
"Is that yours?" She blurted out suddenly.
Pinkie looked up, surprised at first. Then she gave a rather subdued smile and closed the book. "Kinda. I'm holding onto it... for a friend of mine."
"Can I see it?"
Nodding, the pink girl carefully handed the journal over. Now with the tome in her own hands, Dawn could see the sigil on its cover. A blazing sun, coloured yellow and red not unlike a Ying-Yang symbol. Absentmidently, one hand combed through her own locks of hair, while the other brushed over the sun motive. All the while, Pinkie was watching her intendly.
What both failed to notice, was another pair of eyes observing the whole exchange. A pair of eyes that narrowed dangerously, its crimson gaze piercing the two girls sitting on the couch, not noticing the observer in the slightest. Then the eyes ducked away.
"Pinkie! Your mother wants you in the kitchen for the dessert!" Aria called.
"Okidoki, just one moment." Pinkie replied with the same volume. Taking back the journal, she quickly rushed upstairs, coming back down not even a minute later without the book.
Meanwhile, Dawn was frowning as she tried to shake off the weird sensation that had gotten hold of one of her hands. It felt like had suddenly fallen asleep, going numb and then being pricked by lots of needles. It faded eventually, not just from her hand, but also from her mind. And as the sun began to set and dinner was almost ready, she did not think of it anymore.
The last of the plates were cleaned and the family assembled in the living room. A fireplace crackled, alongside several candles they bathed everything in nice warm light. The two elders of the house took seat in their respective armchairs. The girls were divided unto the two couches that stood at an angle towards each other; Maud, Pinkie and Marble on one and Limestone with Aria on the other. Dawn had opted to sit down in the nook of the two pieces of furniture, using a beanchair that had been brought down for her.
It was the time for the presents.
Of course, it was mostly the Pies that gave away and subsequently received them. But she was still genuinly happy for them all. Maybe the happy feelings were infectious, it certainly felt like that. And she was sure she saw Aria smiling, without her usual grumpy-ish attitude.
They laughed, they joked. It felt great. Gifts were exchanged.
Aria got a hand-made sweater from Misses Pie, emblazoned on it a star and a symbol that Dawn was sure had something to do with music. Behind her Marble shuffled around, getting more and more comfortable with sitting so close and so exposed to someone new, a new cyan blue bow now in her hear that was courtesy of her sister Maud. It went back and forth, with the sisters (except Marble) always standing up and moving around; almost every present was followed by a hug. Dawn was no exception to this, after she got a wonderful leather bracelet with a small ruby, made by the patriach personally. To say that she was overwhelmed would be an understatement.
Eventually, Aria was handed the box that contained Dawn’s gifts. Dawn was temporarily distracted by a question from Cloudy Quartz when Aria had her first good look.
“Now this is interesting!“ The fuchsia girl held the, supposed, wooden rider in one hand. Her left eyebrow was raised upwards as she examined the small woodwork. Pinkie immediately blitzed over to her, eyeing the construct and chattering at her unnormal speed.
"You made those yourself, if I'm correct?" Dawn nodded happily.
"Oooh, a Nuckleavee, I like it." Pinkie chirped as she fawned over the figure.
While confused at first, Dawn's face became just a bit redder as she had to sheepishly explain that this was not the representation of an old myth's demon, but a normal horse plus rider, atleast supposedly.
But Aria really seemed to like her gifts, as she looked every single wooden creation, as well as the gems that Dawn had received from Marble. She even thanked her. It made the red girl happy, to hear that her efforts had come to fruition, that her presents were well received.
But she had not catched Aria’s full reaction, no one really had. For in the small tick, when the room’s occupants had paid more attention to the question asked by Cloudy Quartz, Aria had already opened the box.
And so nobody saw her face scrunch up in a multitude of emotions, as her eyes laid on three shining, crimson crystals. Shock, anger, grief; everything at once in a span of a second.
But this crucial moment was already gone and the fuchsia girl’s facade was established again.
Everything after that went on without issue. The pile of presents was getting smaller and smaller. Limestone gifted Aria a book centered around cooking more ‘healthier‘ food, along with a well-natured snarky comment.
It was then that Aria took the last of the wrapped packages in her hands and walked over towards the couch with Dawn and Marble on it.
“Here ya go Dawny, for you.“ She said, while sporting a look of utter indifference with only the hinds of a nice expression visible. Handing it over to the confused red head, she returned to her own seat and watched almost like a hawk looking at a mouse hole.
It was small, just a bit bigger than her own hand, and definitely rectangular. Dawn was actually surprised to get anything from Aria, her own gift could be explained by all the things the fuchsia girl had done for her without even knowing her. The second thing was, now that she had one of Aria’s right in her hands, she could actually take in the very well done wrapping of the gift.
The entire assembled family plus Aria were looking at here, prompting her to open it with their eyes. It made Dawn feel all fuzzy inside, but in a good way. It made her comfortable.
Carefully, to preserve the wrapping, she began to open it. To her surprise, under the paper was a compact wooden box, with no decorations to speak off. There was also no lock or anything to stop her from opening it, so she did.
Inside was, of all things, a smart phone.
“A-Aria, that… that is just… Thank you!“ Setting it down on the table she swiftly stood up and wrapped her arms around the fuchsia girl, before Aria had any chance to prevent it or escape. The taller girl stiffened at the sudden contact.
Dawn noticed this, and she also suddenly remembered that this was basically the first time they had hugged at all. Hastily she seperated again, although a part of her wished for the embrace to last longer.
The other girl’s face was unreadable, atleast in relation to the surprise hug. Cocking her eyebrow, she continued as if nothing had happened. “And? You like it? Just thought it was something you would need in the near future.“
“It, it is great. I… I don’t know if I really, I mean, we don’t even know each other really long-“
Everyone chuckled at the reaction, even Dawn herself after a moment of calming herself.
“Sorry, no refund. You just gotta accept it, girl. Accept it and use it.“ With that Aria stood up and walked into the adjacent kitchen. Little could she have predicted that Limestone would use this opportunity immediately, scooting over to the red girl and whispering very clear for everyone to hear.
“Don’t worry, she didn’t actually bought it.“ An obviously exagerated gasp came from Pinkie to their left. Undeterred from this, Limestone continued to speak with a meaningful tone in her voice, a suggesting smirk on her face.
“HowEVER, that is still a very good piece she gave you right there. If I’m being entirely honest here, it almost seems like Aria Blaze actually values your wellbeing-“
“LIMESTONE! I CAN STILL HEAR YOU!“
Pinkie broke out in full uncontrolled cackles, while her parents restrained themselves to light yet still genuine laughter, even Marble produced a quiet giggling. Maud… well Maud was Maud as far as she could tell. Even if Dawn was rather flustered at hearing all this, it was not something she wished to escaped from.
“Well, let me congretulate you.“ Limestone reached with her left hand to her as if expecting a handshake, or offering one. “You are officially the first person that the grumpy rockhead here actually cares about. With your new positions you have new privileges, such as an endless supply of insults, and the experience of the AriaBlazeGrumpyHateIndifference™ 24/7 straight.“
“LIMESTONE PIE, I’M GOING TO TURN YOU INTO THE CHRISTMAS LAMB IF YOU DON’T STOP!“ The entire (almost entire) Pie family was laughing at this point and Dawn laughed with them, just as much. It made her feel… like she actually belonged in here. To her right, from her old armchair, Cloud Quartz held her hands to her mouth to shout something to the kitchen.
“Use the knife hanging from the second rack upwards, third to the left! That’s the one I always use!“ Shortly after, the telltale sound of someone quickly sharpening a blade was heard from the kitchen. Limestone only seemed to talk faster, without even glancing towards the kitchen.
“As part of your promotion, you will receive the following duties.“ Heavy footfalls pounded in their direction. An angry snarl could be heard. “You will have to make sure that she eats more than just junk-food, stop her from destroying her ears with too much metal, get her to wear more colorful attire, apply make-up even if she doesn’t like it-“
Aria looked like a figure straight out of a horror movie. Long hair framed and partly covered her face, a long and gleaming blade in her hands.
As fast as the grey girl could manage, she sprinted towards the stairs to seek safety. Just as she was past her assembled family, a swift motion caused her head to reflexivly pull down.
With a resounding crack, a butcher knife embedded itself in on of the old wooden posts close to her. For a second she turned back, still from the sudden shock. Aria had apparently not just grabbed one knife off the rack, she had taken all of the knives. One was even held between her hissing teeth.
Limestone practically flew up the stairs with Aria hot on her heels, yelling “ShitshitshitshitshitSHITSHITSHIT!“and leaving her family laughing back in the living room.
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t kill her.“ Maud said, expressing no emotion at all, as she stood up and walked upstairs at her usual calm pace.
“I’ll go make hot cocoa for everyone!“ Pinkie was the next one to leave the room, bouncing towards the now empty kitchen. Dawn for her part just leaned back to recover from the heated exchange just now, the gift still in her hands and a smile on her face. Something told her not to worry for the safety of Limestone. Maybe it was the fact that nobody else did, which had to mean that they trusted Aria enough to not cause any actual harm.
Just then a sudden touch on her head caused her to jump and quickly turn her head. A small sqeak and Marble once again took cover behind her blanket. For a moment four eyes stared into each other akwardly. Then Dawn gave an apolagetic smile, turned and once again leaned back, closing her eyes.
Not long and Marbles nimble fingers once again touched her head. Combing through her hair, she began to slowly form it into a braid, humming a soft melody to herself. It was relaxing, soon she found herself joining into the tune, almost unconciously.
Above her, some heavy sounds went here and there, whatever the three were doing up there.
Some of Limestone’s words were still resonating in her head. The question she asked herself the last days, today over the battlegrounds, was swirling around inside her. If Aria was more than just her benefactor. If maybe, she could consider her a friend.
But right, now she could ignore it.
Right now, even if she knew she wasn’t, she felt like part of a family.
It felt nice.
It felt right.
The sun had already gone down hours ago. giving everything a certain atmosphere of closeness. When you could not see the cold outside of your home, the warm inside grew just a bit more comfy and huddly. The many lights, generated from street lamps, cars, and of course christmas decoration, somewhat polluted that atmosphere. But those could still be seen as something nice and even something atmospheric.
Dawn Fire had already gone to bed, tired from the days festivities.
Yet she was not.
Aria had had another nightmare this night. They were not frequent or really deprived her of her rest, both things she could be thankful for. But every single time when she woke up, she felt the pain in her chest again. She could feel the tears on her face, even though she cried none.
All the tears were shed weeks ago.
That was why she had visited the house, her house, and why she had participated in the celebrational hours-long paintball match. She needed to remind herself of everything that had happened, of what she had lost. After that, she desperately needed the familiar feel of battle. To feel the rush of adrenaline, to dodge the bullets, track down and eliminate the enemy.
Paintball was close enough to do the trick.
But as soon as the game had been fnished, the presence of… It always broke her out of her routine, her unhealthy comfort. Sometimes she pondered if she should have given herself more time, but then she had moments where she enjoyed having Dawn here. Not just someone; Dawn’s curious yet always careful attitude was nice to have here.
The glass filled with whiskey was lifted off the table and ist contents disappeared in Aria’s throat, meanwhile her right hand still held the stones that Dawn had gifted her.
They looked so similar. Why did they have to look so bloody similar?
Aria knew that her new roommate was approaching a solid minute before the red girl stepped into the light of the living room, her eyes squinted and her mouth hang slightly open.
The other girl looked at her for only a few moments, her eyes analyzing the stance, expression and behavior. Then she returned to look at the beautiful stone in her hands. “The toilet is at the further end of the hallway.“
A sleepy grumbling sound apparently passed as an answer, as Dawn quickly shuffled off to relieve herself. After a few minutes she was coming back, noticeably more awake and functional, and sat down at the table opposite of Aria.
The fuchsia girl looked up at her face and she looked down at the stone she had gifted her roommate with.
“Aria, I… uhm I wanted to ask you-I mean“ Dawn wanted to talk about it so badly, yet the moment she opened her mouth the words were lost on her. Surprisingly, Aria seemed to wait patiently for her to make actual coherent sentences, her presents still twirling between nimble fingers.
“Uhm… Aria, I wanted to tell you how thankful I am. For everything really. This… this means a lot to me, really, without your help... Don’t know what I would have done, propably still in the hospital. So, yeah…“ How could she ask it? What was the best way to bring up a deeply personal question, of something that was clearly still a point of discomfort if not emotional pain for the other?
“Come on, Dawny.“ Aria said, friendly although she still allowed herself a light smirk. “I’m not a plastic toy or a frail little pony. I can take it. So whatever you want to ask, just be direct.“
“Uh ok.“ Breathing in, breathing out. “But only if you want to answer. I, well I noticed that you… behaved a bit strange, so to say. Like, you were still attuning to… well me being here instead of somebody else. And you said that recently someone moved out of the apartment. And a couple of days ago I talked to Marbl-“
Aria’s eyebrow lifted up before the red girl could stop herself from spilling all the beans. But it seemed she messed up already, Aria’s smirk had already vanished. She didn’t look outright pissed, but definitely not glad in any way.
“Did you now? And what, pray tell, did Marble tell you, Dawn?“ The words held no malice or edge, yet she still winced at hearing er name.
“She didn’t say anything bad, I promise! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have tried to-“
“What, did she say?“
Breath in, and out. “She… said that you were in a bad state when they met you. Nothing more.“
Silence. She couldn’t look up, it felt too wrong. She hoped against her logical side that it wasn’t that bad.
A chair was pushed away. She walked away, not to her room, but to her kitchen. This was even scarier for Dawn. She had seen what Aria could do with knives. That throw was delibrately aimed against the pillar, what could she achieve when not aiming to miss?
What when she would decide to aim to hit?
Dawn couldn’t stop her. The other girl surpassed her in strength, dexterity and endurance by huge margins.
The telltale sound of a stopper being pulled from a glass bottle and the following flow of some liquid did little to appease her mind.
It also didn’t recede when she could hear the bottle being put away again. Or when she could hear Aria Blaze approach, even though she hadn’t heard any sign of a blade being pulled.
Why was she even so scared? Wasn’t she stronger than this? She had the right, as-
Thunk
The empty glass now stood between them; a frazzled, tired and now startled Dawn and Aria, eyes closed and holding herself in cold annoyance. Than the fuchsia girl sighed, her shoulders slumped a bit.
“Well. For one, you’re very perceptive. Second, stop looking like you’re about to be punished by your parents.“
This was the thing to break her out of her shock. Slowly, she finally met the other’s purple eyes.
“You are right with most things already. Yes, up until one and a half months ago, I was living with two other people here. That’s why the other bedrooms look like they do. It is also why I am acting the way I do. We were together a long time and I felt alone up until recently. But I was not prepared that, once you entered this apartment and thus my life, I would slip back into my old routine of having them around, old reactions to certain things, et cetera. And yes, when they both left me suddenly I was in a very bad state, which was when I met the Pies. Do you follow?“
Dawn just nodded. What was she to say right now? I’m sorry? Aria really didn’t feel like the type that would accept it. Also… she didn’t want to interrupt her.
“Now, there are two things that you have not figured out yet. They are also the two most important things for me.“
No turning back now.
“First of all: They were not my roommates. Or even my friends. They were my sisters.“
“They… they were your sisters?“
“Yes. And they did not leave.“
“They both died.“
“You should go to bed now. It is late.“
Her voice sounded dead. Just as her eyes bored themselves into her, passing through her and looking at something else. Dawn had no will to disagree.
As she was just about to walk out of sight and into her room though, she stopped. She had to stop. If she did not say it now, when would she? It had to be now.
“I am sorry Aria. I am sorry for your loss.“
There was no response. She knew there would be none tonight.
“I want to help, in any way I can. As a friend. Please, just tell me how.“ Then Dawn entered her, no her sister’s former bedroom. Sleep came only after what felt like hours. At some point, her eyes had filled with tears. Everything just felt so surreal, it all came so suddenly down onto her.
As a friend. Two red orbs stared at the door in front of them, piercing the darkness with ease. A friend. I knew it, she sounded so familiar. Though, even with everything that has happened, I’ll have to look into that more closely to be sure. But if I’m right…
There was another presence in the room. Looming over her, a monstrous figure; tall and muscular with two bright blue eyes.
Bright, cruel, blue-ish irises that were surrounded by a sea of black, like a void.
The figure was shrouded in her own shadow, cast from a raging fire behind her. The flames crackled like the screams of… people. It consumed the furniture, the walls around her; everything.
Still, she could see the creature’s eyes. And its teeth, two rows of sharpened daggers, with cruel fangs that stood menacingly. IT was snarling down at her.
Massive hands with fingers long as sharp like claws lunched towards her, too fast for her to even attempt to dodge. Where they touched her skin it flared up, as if it was burning hot, taking up an almost blinding shade of orange. She could not look at it, it burned.
The creature lifted her up, before slamming her face first against a wall, right into the fire.
Her skin was now actually burning, as she could feel the flames scorching her face. Her vision went white, her voice could not form words even though she needed to scream out.
One hand held her head against the wall, as the other pulled back. Then she felt two claws like knives, digging into her skin.
Slowly, they cut through her back, two lines on either side of her spinal cord, right next to her shoulder blades. She could feel blood trickling from the open gashes. Then her head seemed to split.
One pushed foward, angrily snarling out, trying to set itself free.
The other held back with an iron grip upon her. Not allowing the destruction of what it had so carefully set out.
The creature flung her to the ground. Despite her pain, she tried to stand up, to defend herself somehow.
Before her was a mirror, a flat surface that showed her someone. She could only assume it was her own image.
The side of her face that had been forcefully pressed into the searing hot flames was not scorched black. Instead it radiated like a heated piece of metal, much like her arms where the creature had touched her. Burned skin glowed a bright orange, right next to her normal reddish hide.
Yet she did not feel pain or fear.
From behind her she could the creature, its voice raspy and angry. For as she turned and stared at it, she saw it steaming as if it was the one being burned. It seemed to her that it was melting, slowly getting smaller and smaller.
“ I will get my claim!“
“No you won’t. We lost. Just accept our fate.“
There was another presence in the room. Standing in the doorway, looking through the halfway opened door. Looking at her carefully. Then the figure moved away, having spotted her stirring.
Dawn slowly rose from her sleep, mind still sorting itself from the chaos of the nightmare. She could not recall an awful lot, just traces of two voices, somehow familiar to her. That, as well as an almost literally splitting headache. Thankfully, it was getting steadily better.
Yawning, she shuffled out of the bed and out of the room. She could hear Aria moving in the living room, maybe preparing breakfast again?
Aria.
Yesterday’s conversation popped back into her mind and immediately her body locked up. Only with effort did Dawn manage to get herself into the bathroom. There she splashed cold water in her face, then sitting down on the ground. She needed to think of what to do now.
Should she just act like nothing had happened? No, she had to talk with Aria, somehow. Preferably without getting the person that provided her the means of living a life pissed off.
“Hi“, Dawn said carefully.
Aria just watched her passively, no emotions crossing her face. She did nothing while Dawn sat down and started to nervously clasp her hands together. They both looked at eachother for another whole minute, until Aria broke the silence.
“You look like shit.“ She grumbled, while turning to move to the kitchen. “Didn’t sleep?“
“I… had a nightmare.“ If Dawn could have seen Aria’s expression, she might have interpretated the fuchsia girl’s frustration as being directed at her. But she did not, and so she just continued. “Don’t remember anything anymore, just that it felt really hot and… voices, I think… that’s it.”
“Uh-hm, so you had a hot dream where you were not alone? Sounds less like a nightmare to me and more like your mind wanted some action. Didn’t really think that you had such notions in you.” Aria
Dawn’s already red cheeks darkened rapidly in colour. For her it felt like her tongue was twisting around itself in her mouth, desolving what she intended to say into a mess of flustered stutters. It was the first time Aria, or anyone, had explicity talked about such things with her. Dawn had just never thought about this kind of thing, she always had other stuff on her mind; the other girl caught her completely off guard and she was not prepared on how to respond to it.
If nothing else, Dawn felt remarkebly less afraid. Especially when Aria started to chuckle and carry a basket with toast onto the table, which already had plates and a few other breakfast necessities.
“Calm down, I was just kidding. C’mon, eat something.”
“Youhgble… not hungry.” The redhead just mumbled, after she finally regained control of her vocal abilities.
In the ensueing silence, she wondered if she should really try and talk about what she had learned yesterday. It did not seem like Aria thought about it. They could just ignore what had happened and continue to…
“D-did you have something planned for today?” She asked carefully.
“Nope. Today we just lay back and be lazy!”
Dawn managed a nod for that. To avoid further questions for now, she made herself half a toast with some jam and began chewing on it rather halfheartedly. But eventually, she had to start talking about it, otherwise it would most likely follow and pester her constantly.
“[small]Aria… If you don’t mind…[small]Ehm, a-about yesterday.” Immediately the temperature seemed to drop. Even though the fuchsia was drinking from her mug as if nothing were wrong.
Okay, I was wrong, very wrong! The girl in front of her simply had to look at her through half-open eyes, her morning drink sat down on the table and her arms crossed, to start the panic that had been building up in the memory-less girl.
[small]”Sorry! You know what? It doesn’t matter-anyways! I’mgoingtogonow!”[small]
Dawn’s hand had startled to tremble. Everything felt colder. This had been a bad idea. She just wanted to understand Aria, maybe so she could do something, so she could maybe help her. But now she felt more than doubt. Dread.
She feared Aria, as stupid as that was. The girl had been nothing but helpful to her, at no point had she actively threatened her. But the dread was still present.
So, she stood up and began to walk away. She would just retreat and…
“Where are you going?“ Aria asked suddenly, her voice cutting through the air, making Dawn stop where she was. Slowly she turned around to face her.
“To m… the bedroom, w-why?“
“Because their is nothing in your room for you to get, really. Snacks are under the coffee table and the remote is also on it. Now start the TV while I get myself something.“ The girl said while searching through some contents. Then Dawn could hear a couple of glass objects being moved around.
Still unsure, and still somewhat shaken from… recent conversations, the red girl obliged with the order and started the device. Approaching footsteps alerted her that Aria was seemingly finished. In fact, she was, as she came back with a familiar short glass filled with some liquid. Alcohol.
“Is that really… good? Now?“ She carefully asked, setting down on one end of the couch.
“Trying to keep me away from doing stupid things, are you now?“ She did not know how to take it. Was she serious right now, or not? There was a challenge between the words, but what kind? She had no good answer; no good choice in this situation, it was to choose one side and stick with it.
“Y-Yes if I can! You helped me, and I told you y-yesterday that I would help! That’s what fri-“ The word, the one that she had hoped to hear from Aria, the one she felt a strange connection to; she could not speak it aloud. Her tongue just locked up.
With a resounding Thud, Aria’s foot stood on the coffee table, making Dawn wince. Her eyes scrutinized her, seemingly accusing her. “Sorry, what was that?“
“N-Nevermind, I-“
“No no, say it.“
“…“
“Say it.“
No return. She had to put trust into her, otherwise this would not work.
“That is what f-friends do.“ She found the determination somehow, her chest filling with warmth, even though the room was already warm enough.
Aria smirked. Then she plopped down next to Dawn onto the couch, grabbed her drink and took a big sip. Then she turned her head to the girl next to her and raised it as if in a toast.
“Well then. Consider this your first opportunity to be one.“
“R-really?”
“Yeah.” Aria put the glass down on the table, far away from them both. Looking at Dawn, she brought a calm and pleasant expression to her own face. “And, for what it’s worth. I’m sorry. Now, let’s watch some stupid movie!”
The end of the year was approaching fast. It would only be a couple more days before it. So much had happened in the last two to three months, she would call anyone insane who’d have explained it to her preemptively. But, here she was. Here they were.
Snow crunched beneath her boots. People were doing this and that, she ignored them if she didn’t recognize them. If she did, she avoided them.
There was not much room for the joy of celebration in her heart, she left that to her younger sister. Of course, she had left it to Nata, now it was a somewhat different matter. Her new roommate, her friend, was much more interested in the decorations and everything really.
Over the last days she had watched Dawn Fire, her behavior and her speech pattern, the usage of particular words especially, anything that she could recognize as similar enough. It was more of a hunch really, a strange feeling of familarity that had only intensified in the last days, but hunches and feelings was what had brought her and her formersisters far in this world, often enough to take them seriously. And in her experiences, coincidences should always be looked after. Adagio had hammered that into Aria’s head for basically her entire life. Among other things she could appreciate, alteast in hindsight.
Her hair was largely covered by her trenchcoat, she would not have to worry too much about being spotted by someone she knew and did not want to meet, which was everyone she knew except maybe seven people.
Current theories aside, she did actually enjoy the new presence in her life. The sometimes silly thoughts and antics were actually very familiar to her younger sister, but Dawn was far more attentive and had obeyed every single rule until now. And since christmas day, the girl had been increasingly optimistic in her attitude. She actively tried to help cooking or cleaning, anything really, while also always ready to test out something new.
Yet even with all the similarities to her youngest sister, Aria didn’t have the drive to mess with her like she had done so often with Sonata. And she had tried, in the beginning she almost fell back into that old habit of hers. But it just felt… wrong.
She still teased her from times to times, how could she not? Dawn certainly brought her no shortage of opportunities; the difference was that those little jabs were completely harmless. In comparison, the banter between her and Limestone was more pointed but that related to the fact that they knew the other could take it. And with her sisters, it could look more like they genuinely argued and had a distaste for eachother. Which was not even entirely wrong.
The relationship between her and her sisters had been a complicated mess. More than one time had they fought and split. But eventually they got together again, after hours or days of sulking and isolation. Sometimes it took them years. But in the end, they always came back, they stayed together.
Adagio... Sonata…
Aria was lucky to notice the two girls before they did her. Considering how one of them was practically a neon sign in the snow, she really should have seen her sooner. Trying to avoid acting suspiciously, she began walking towards a nearby hedge that would cover her from them.
Of course, she would run into the Rainbooms. Because why not?
If it had been just Pinkie, well she would still have avoided her, or tried to atleast, but it would not have been that bad of a situation. Instead she had almost run into the cowgirl and the athlete. The rainbow-coloured paragon of pride she particularly despised. It had been her boisterous attitude, among other things, that made Aria cast dark thoughts. Though, that insufferable girl came nowhere near to the contempt she had felt towards Sunset Shimmer.
Though, how ironic would it be if she'd actually...
Normally, she barely even spared this damned band any more thoughts. But everytime she saw on of them, her hate returned. The only reason that she had never really snapped at Pinkie was because of the other Pie sisters, and with increasing exposure as well as sufficient self-restraint she could manage the hyper-active girl.
This was not as bad, but she still wanted to just go as far away as possible.
On the other hand, maybe this was an opportunity for her. She could gain a potential lot by listening in on them, if she was lucky.
Why shouldn’t she be? Coincidences had been somewhat piling up recently. The strange surge she had felt a week or so before christmas, coupled with a car accident she had learned about from overhearing Steel Rain; the mysterious appearance of Dawn Fire and this strange familiarity she felt.
A shout alarmed her to the presence of an addition to the group of hated enemies. Skipping through the snow was the unmistakebly happy pink Pie-family member. Fortunately, she was not coming from a direction from which she could have seen their impromptu listener. Still, one always had to be extra careful with Pinkamina Diane Pie. Underestimating her was something that Aria had stopped doing for a long time now.
“HEY GIRLS! HOOOW ARE YOU?!”
“Hey Pinks, we’re fine so far. And you?!” The rainbow-haired athlete greeted her back. Pinkie did not reply, instead she stood dead right before them and opened her arms wide. Only for the athlete to hesitate and squirm, a reaction most disappointing for the one offering a hug. Indeed, Pinkie’s happy smile malformed into a frown, although she didn’t pull her arms back. Instead she simply turned to the farmgirl.
“Aww, shucks. Alright.” Finally, the arms clad in an obnoxiously bright winter coat could embrace another body, and so they did with full force. It certainly seemed to lift the girl’s mood considerably. Afterwards she again turned to her first target, arms again wide open.
“… Yeah ok-Hey!”
The girl had the air pressed out of her lungs, her feet trying to find purchase above the ground, as she was lifted upwards. All the voiced disapproval could not stop Pinkie from doing her thing for a whole other minute. Only then did she relent and put her friend back down, gently of course.
Then they resolved to do what friends always seemed to do: they talked, a lot. Yes, Aria should have known that, in fact she had counted upon it. But there was a fine difference between important talk that could give her valuable information and stupid friendship talk. Because that one was usually utterly useless to her. She did not care a bit about who felt how right now and this and that.
“It still really surreal to me. I mean, it has been only a week now since… y’know the gravestone was placed. And that makes it ten days since she died. I just, it doesn’t feel like such a short time.”
Wait, what? Aria must have overheard something. THIS was important.
“Yeah, Ah understand what ya mean Rainbow. Sometimes it feels it all happened weeks, if not months ago. Then suddenly it’s like it was just all yesterday. Drives me crazy.” The other two nodded solemnly, even Pinkie had dropped her overly happy demeanor. She still smiled, but it was a sad one. “Applebloom has been helpful, thankfully. Keepin’ me straight and occupied if I need be.”
The others nodded.
“Hey Pinks? Did Twilight ever write back?” Rainbow picked the conversation up again, sharing hopeful glances with the farmer.
“Not yet, Dashie, not yet. She needs a lot more time than that, I think. I mean, we betrayed her trust and abandonded the one person who she tasked us with reforming. The one who saved us from the Dazzlings, who tried her absolute best to be a good person.” The pink girl’s gaze had drifted away from her friends, staring vaguely into the empty air. “But Sunset is dead. Maybe it is our fault. Maybe not. Maybe there was nothing that we could have done on that Wednesday.”
“Eh, y’alright Pinkie? You’re staring…”
Immediately, she snapped back into place, smile on her lips. “Yup, I’m fine. Hey, why don’t we stop being so gloomy constantly and go to Sugarcube Corner for some milkshakes?”
The others didn’t really follow her, as much as they were dragged. But they did not seem to mind too much. They seemed a bit happier already.
How interesting. Aria though, a grin slowly spreading across her face. You were indeed right Dagi! So many coincidences, accumulating so nicely!
Making sure to avoid the Rainboom’s line of sight, she began to make her way back towards her apartment.
And I only find out about all this NOW! Strange that Limestone’s sister never babled that out of her mouth before! Well to be fair, I never really asked her why she had been so down so sudden. No matter!
For now, she would have to observe, while also researching for as much information as possible. But everything was pretty much confirmed and laid out before her, her theories almost completely proven true. Aria had truly a lot to think about.
There was also the matter of her landlord that would need resolving, wouldn’t take much time…
A cacophony of explosions was set loose, their multi-coloured lights illuminating the sky in a display of wonder. More and more rockets screamed upwards on trails of sparks, only to implode in yet another showcase of brilliance. The darkness of the night was completely forgotten and with it the usual silence of a sleeping city.
Dawn Fire was enraptured by it all. Her eyes were wide open, watching the dark canvas above her become a chaotic mess of colour and spectacles. It was supposed to be cold now, evidenced by the thick snow that was still lying everyhwere, but Dawn was feeling incredibly warm. And really happy. This sensation was everywhere, all around her. It made her brain somewhat fuzzy, but she paid that no mind.
“Happy New Year, Aria!”
“Yeah yeah. Happy Ne-Hey, no! No hugging!”
They were currently in one of the parks near their apartment. Several more groups of people were also here, families or close friends, presumably. Many were laughing and talking, others were watching the fireworks, some contributed to it with their own rockets.
Many of the younger ones were holding bottles or glasses with which they were toasting the new year that had arrived. Kids were chasing each other with thin sticks, the tips alight with fiery sparks shooting everywhere.
It was so exciting for the girl that she did not know where to look first. Aria was mainly just walking alongside her, keeping her from running into others.
They were simply walking around the streets, just like many of the cities inhabitants. Everywhere, it seemed, the same mix of laughter and energy filled the air. When the duo was crossing one of the cities bridges, Dawn stopped as soon as she saw the fireworks reflecting in the dark waters beneath them. The beautiful display captivated her for minutes, standing in the chill air that swept over the bare stone of the old bridge.
Eventually though, she turned away from the sight and followed her friend back into the streets. During the few hours that they walked, Dawn seemed to never lose the joyous energy. She also remained completely oblivious of her companion’s constant state of alertness.
Aria herself held neither fascination nor interest in the current event. Rather, she kept herself occupied by gently guiding Dawn through the streets, while also watching for any familiar faces. Recent chance encounters had only strengthened her determination to never be spotted, especially by one of them.
It was this awareness that alerted her to the presence of a face she knew, more or less. This time however, she was already too close to guide her companion away from them without suspicion. Instinctively, she slipped inbetween other outgoers, keeping her eyes on the figure as she rushed past.
Dawn also noticed the girl as she briskly walked by her. Not slowing down in her own wander, she watched her with more random interest than any particular reason. The girl’s long charcoal black hair swashed behind her back like a tail. In the middle of the crossroads she stopped suddenly, turning her head here and there, as if she were searching for someone.
The girl did not see it, even with her concentrated attention, but Dawn did. Another figure detached herself from the seemingly everpresent crow, nimbly walking towards the charcoal-haired searcher. This one had maybe the biggest shades that Dawn had ever seen. That and her electric blue hair would have made her rather easy to spot, yet it seemed the other girl had not. Quite possibly, ‘Shades’ as Dawn nicknamed her, was really good at slipping from other’s notice, evidenced by how her avoiding the lone girl’s field of view while sneaking up on her.
Dawn watched with happy curiosity, a near firework explosion providing her with enough light to catch a cheshire grin adorning white skin, underneath all that mess of blue hair.
Only moments before ‘Shades’ had catched up on her unsuspecting quarry, Dawn felt someone tapp her on the shoulder. It was Aria, mildly urging her forward with that look of indifferent disdain she always seemed to have when they walked among crowds.
The redhead felt a pang of disappointment at being distracted, but she complied. A glance over her shoulder showed her that she had missed the surprise meeting. Though it did bring a smile on her own lips, seeing the two girls hugging each other, spinning together in circles.
They walked through the streets, how long was impossible to say without an actual watch, not like both of them really cared. Sometimes they would talk about things, when not many people were around, and when it was quieter.
Eventually they were walking over another bridge, this one had just as amazing a view as the first one, atleast Dawn was sure that it wasn’t the same as before. They wove between several small groups, steadily making their way across. It was then that Dawn noticed bright red and white bands cutting off a section of the bridge’s right side. There, the ground seemed darker in some spots, as if charred, one could also make out cracks in the asphalt.
“Looks rather centralized to be simple wear and tear. An accident maybe?” Dawn turned to ask her new friend about it.
But Aria was suddenly nowhere to be found. Where ever she looked, the redhead could not spot her friend among the sparse crowd.
Being seperated without warning threw Dawn off, confusion overtaking her. She stumbled around as her head turned faster than the rest of her body could follow. Panic started to slowly well up inside of her, only to be repressed immediately. Dawn trusted in Aria, she knew her roommate would be able to find her, she always seemed to be able to.
“Hey, watch it!” Dawn jumped at the sharp voice. Standing before her was a rather massive young woman, taller than her by almost an entire head. She had just turned, and Dawn would have collided with her, if the woman had not snapped at the careless girl.
The imposing frame alone was enough to intimidate Dawn, as she staggered a few steps back her mind jumbled to quickly form an apology and avoid any conflict. “Uh-sorry, I’m really so, so sorry. I-I did not see where I was going.”
She had bright, almost golden-like eyes that scrutinized Dawn like a bird of prey looking at a mouse. Her shock-white hair was short and unkempt, contrasting her dark skin tone and standing out against the sky. Finally, she seemed to mellow out somewhat, relaxing in her posture and sticking her hands back into her leather jacket.
“A-again, I am so, so s-“
“Alright, alright. Can stop that now.” The woman silenced her with a simple hand gesture, before turning back towards the bridge.
Dawn didn’t know what to do next in this situation. She could go away and forget what happened here. That did seem like the simpler and honestly, like the smarter decision. However, there was something she caught with her own eyes when another rocket exploded relatively near to them. In the light of the firework, she could have sworn to have seen a glistening in the eyes of the white-haired woman. Like barely held tears.
“I’m Dawn, by the way. Uhm, Dawn Fire.”
“Uh, what? Oh. Okay.”
“I’m sorry if I am disturbing you. But, are you really okay?”
“Mm-Fine. Everythings just fine.” She replied. “Name’s Gilda, by the way. And I am completely fine over here. Just… looking at the bridge.”
She didn’t sound really convincing. If Dawn had to say, she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. This felt somewhat similar to those conversations that she had with Aria a few days ago. Just like then, she decided to press on, although now she had more confidence and less crippling fear from the person in front of her.
“Alright. I can go if you want.” She offered. “You just looked a bit sad and if I can help in any way, maybe if you want to talk about it?”
“Seems a bit random, don’t you think? Talking ‘bout personal stuff with someone you know for a minute or so.”
“You don’t have to say any names. Or anything, if you don’t want to, then I'll just leave. That would be ok too.”
“Hm. Yeah.”
“… Someone I knew… she died over there.”
“I… I’m sorry to hear that.” Dawn nervously folded her hands. She did not want to constantly fiddle around with them, it seemed rude. “If I may ask… what was the cause?”
“It uh… just… whole lotta nasty business.” When Gilda saw the questioning look on the face of Dawn right, she realized she had to elaborate somewhat.
“Was a girl from the Highschool nearby. She… well, there was lots of unrest amongst the students, a website that posted personal shit for all to see. You had to have heard of it, Anon-a-Miss debacle?”
Dawn just shook her head. The taller girl had to process that for a moment. It seemed so bizarre to her that someone did not know about the whole crisis at all. It had been in virtually every newspaper. But this girl had not, for some reason. Most likely she was from out of town.
“Okay then. Well, to cut a really shit story short, that one girl was injured really badly. So, they brought her to the nearest hospital of course. Thing is now, when the medic drove over this here bridge, they created an accident. She didn’t make it. Everyone’s been shellshocked after that for days.”
Gilda sighed. Looking to the red girl, she saw her listening with curious, if saddened, eyes.
“That was about a week before christmas. Now, people have started to move on. Some more, some less. To be honest that girl wasn’t really well-liked in the school, not at that point, but we were all still pretty shaken from all that.”
“And… now, they are doing alright? Are you doing alright?”
“Yeah. Most are kinda accepting now that someone they knew, even if not on a good basis, is never gonna be here again. Me? I’m doing good, I think. Sometimes, my brain starts thinking ‘bout it all again. Always makes me lil' melancholic.”
“There is this group of girls." Gilda recounted after a short pause. She had shortly pondered lighting herself a new cigarette, but had decided against it. "They were close to her, somewhat. They’ve been taking it the hardest, from what I have seen atleast. Some of 'em got real snappy and reclusive, others just... cried a lot.”
“I… know what you mean. Uhm, do you know how they’ve been… you know, coping, with the sudden loss? If it happened only a couple of weeks ago, how do they feel better now? J-just asking, of course.”
Gilda was now shifting a bit nervously. Here she was, basically pouring her heart out to a complete stranger. It did feel good, kinda, she hadn’t talked like that with anyone, not even her own friends.
“Well… there was a funeral ceremony, or something of that sort.” She explained tentavely. ” They were all constantly consoling each other. Brought lots of pretty flowers. They just probably hang out with eachother, doing all that… friendship thing they do. I don't know.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
It was then that Dawn finally saw Aria striding over towards them. The redhead gave her a slight smile and a wave, but from the corner of her eye she could see Gilda suddenly tensing up. If Aria also noticed that she didn’t show it.
Dawn on the other hand could almost feel the young woman next to her getting increasingly nervous, her muscles tensing underneath her thick jacket, as if she was preparing for a fight . Then suddenly, as Aria was just a few meters away from them, Gilda relaxed completely. Her hands unclenched, her shoulders dropped, and her face was completely void of the anger and the nervousness that it had displayed just seconds ago. She simply stared blankly at Aria as she stopped right in front of them.
“Here you are Dawn.” Aria then turned towards the taller woman, her usual mix of indifference and that grumpy disdain painted on her face. “Is there a problem, or why are you looking at me like that?”
Gilda slowly shook her head. Then she blinked several times, as if she tried to clear her mind, before speaking up. “No. Sorry, just thought I recognized you from somewhere.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t. We don’t know eachother.”
“Yeah. I was wrong. We don’t know eachother from anywhere.” Gilda blinked again. “I think I should really go now. Bye.”
“That was… kinda weird, wasn’t it?” Dawn asked her friend uncertainly, as Gilda’s short white hair disappeared into the crowd of people.
“Hm. Sometimes, people think they know someone, but their brain is just playing tricks on them. Say, did you ever have that sort of feeling in your gut? Like you know someone, but you don’t know why or from where?” Aria shrugged casually.
“Hey, Aria?”
“Mhm?”
“This may sound weird, but this place kinda feels weird.”
Aria cocked an eyebrow. “You mean the bridge. Weird in what sense?”
“I don’t know. My neck just started feeling so tingly all of a sudden, my hands too but only really feint. It’s like, electrizity? I don’t know how to explain it properly.” She said with a frown on her face.
Aria seemed to contemplate that.
“Aria?” Dawn began carefully, before deciding otherwise “Nevermind.”
The purplish girl shook her head lightly while smiling, patting the other’s shoulder. “I think you’re getting tired Dawn. Let us just get back home so can get some sleep, alright?”
“Y-yeah, let’s just do that.” She had to stifle a yawn.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be right behind you.
Aria did not follow her. Instead, she turned and looked at the bridge again, right at that one spot. With one slow breath, her eyes closing almost completely, she reached out and felt. It took only a few seconds, but ultimately, she could feel it. The remnants, the last few scraps that she had missed last time.
Swiftly, she walked towards the tape that seperated the spot, still reaching out towards those last scraps. To anyone else, she was just another celebrating person, walking over a bridge with a stunning few, hands both tucked into her coat’s pockets.
Looking back, Dawn had not noticed her slipping away, or atleast not in this direction.
Then, Aria felt it, the edge of the last slivers of energy. She smirked.
Stepping towards the railing, she pretended to enjoy the view of the water beneath her and the reflection of the illuminated sky above her. Casually, her right hand left the pocket and moved up on her body, before opening the upmost button of her coat. In long-practiced motions, her fingers wandered deeper until they touched warm, smooth crystal.
Aria closed her eyes and started to hum again.
It started to pulse greedily, an old sensation in her hand. A good sensation.
She could feel as she pulled all those last strands into herself. All too soon she was finished, after all, most of it had already been consumed by her days ago.
Aria released her gem and closed her coat, opening her eyes to look at the water below. A smirk slowly morphed from her mouth. She wanted to stay like this, simply enjoy the rush of power, however small it was. But Dawn would probably get worried by now.
So, she made her way back off the bridge, careful to hide any change in her emotions. Just like before, Dawn Fire was not really hard to find, even without any assistance. That girl had neither training nor reason to keep a low profile.
She had barely even noticed the sudden and short absence of her companion. Aria quickly caught up to her. Dawn’s realization of being left alone, again, was swiftly disarmed with a teasing comment and a joke. It worked to ease the amnesiastic girl’s mind and soon she forgot about it again.
While walking besides her and keeping the others attention occupied, as well as choosing their fastest route back home, Aria began to lay out more plans in her mind. Tonight’s discoveries would have to be looked into more deeply and built upon.
When Aria had said that they would need dresses, Dawn had been rather confused. She already had all the clothes that she would need for the forseeable future if not longer, in her own opinion. But Aria had said it was necessary and that she already knew exactly where they could ‘pick one up’ for the red girl.
And so, they were once again on the bike, this time driving into one of the wealthier areas of the city. Big houses with their own big gardens and yards flew by them left and right, which confused Dawn. This did not seem like an area where any sort of boutique or shop for clothing would settle down, for that matter she had not seen any businesses here at all.
She finally got her answer, sort of, when Aria pulled into the driveway of one particular house at the very end of the street. It stood out from the rest by looking like it was the oldest building in the entire block. It also looked completely empty in comparison to the neighbouring ones.
They came to a stop next to the entrance and after securing her bike, Aria pulled out a key from her pocket. Stepping towards the door she shoved it in, twisted, and pushed it open. Dawn followed her into the building.
It was big. Very big, atleast for her.
From the spacious entrance hall, wide stairs led up to the second floor, while more rooms opened up to the left and the right. The walls had many interesting objects displayed, swords, masks, paintings and many other curios. The only thing that they had in common seemed to be that they were all old, antiques and keepsakes from previous times, most likely inherited or bought. Underneath them, most of the furniture was concealed by white blankets, only the table in the dining room was left bare. The entire building radiated a feeling of older times
It seemed so strange that they were here. Dawn supposed that a relative or associate of Aria lived here, yet when she asked it was confirmed that the entire estate and all the things inside it was, in fact, owned by her.
Pretty impressive in Dawn’s opinion.
Of course, Aria had not been the sole owner until recently, but that was a topic Dawn felt both would not want to talk about right now.
So she just followed her friend around, as they made short inspections from room to room, until they had made their way into one of the bedchambers.
While Dawn continued to look around the room and inspect all the items displayed on the four walls, Aria slipped into closet and began rummaging around. It took her only a few minutes before she came back out with pieces of clothing in her arms.
“So, I know I already kinda asked that.” Dawn asked as she turned around to her friend. “But why do we need fancy dresses?”
“Because we’re going to a fancy place tomorrow and we both need to be dressed the part.” Aria replied. Her eyes were scrutinizing the dark blue dress while she spoke, turning it this way and that way to make sure it was still whole. Eventually she seemed to be satisfied and layed the elaborate clothing onto the bed.
“Alright!” She exclaimed and spun around to face Dawn. “Now we need yours.”
“Wha- Mine?” That was all that the red girl could get out before she was already yanked towards the chamber’s closet.
What followed were about half an hour worth of dresses, which Aria took from all three of the villa’s bedchambers. That was a lot of options. But even when they had quickly narrowed down the selection to only a few pieces from each room, actually choosing one was a stupidly difficult choice for Dawn.
This try-out-period also gave the red girl the opportunity to look into all three rooms separately and compare them in terms of style and décor. Very quickly she concluded that the first room was indeed Aria’s. The second one was even bigger and lavishly decorated, everything screamed luxus and pomp. Even though, like every other room, things had obviously been packed and taken away, leaving only bigger pieces of furniture and wall-hangings. This personality clashed horribly with what she had experienced from Aria so far, so she safely concluded it to be not her personal chamber. The other one, from what she could glean off posters and leftover plush animals, was the room of a younger girl. Definitely not Aria too, so there was only the first option left.
The dress they went with in the end came out of the overly luxurios one’s extensive closet. In comparison to the other inhabitants, this one was both humble and… conservative, to say the least.
A purple dress that ended just above her ankles. The fabric was soft and there was simple black and golden stitchings along her shoulder area, stylizing a sort of ying-yang pattern; symbols that were always formed in a balanced manner from the two different colours. Dawn found it mixed well with her hair, it was very modest and would likely not stand out much, both things she appreciated. She was also very glad that she had found a fitting coat for her upper body to repell the cold outside.
If they even were outside, which she doubted. But so far Aria had not revealed much more details, something that frustrated her friend. The only thing that Dawn had been able to get out of her was that their destination would be a restaurant of some kind, nothing more. To be fair, she had not drilled strong enough to even hope of getting more sophisticated information.
Like the reason they were going to that place. Her current bet was that Aria wanted to either treat her to dinner at a high-quality place, which Dawn found unnecessary because Aria’s own cooking was pretty good itself, or there was some sort of an extra surprise.
As Dawn stepped down the staircase and into the dining room, she caught sight of her fuchsia friend sitting at the bare table, apparently lost in her own thoughts.
She had been afraid of that.
After all, they had been rifling through the closets of Aria’s dead sisters. She knew the girl well enough to understand that showing her thoughts and emotions openly happened only sparingly, probably like now. After a few moments of pondering, Dawn made her way to the toilet. She managed to stall for a few minutes at the very least, before she actually entered the room and sat down besides her friend.
“So, we’re done here, right?”
Aria just ‘mhm-ed’.
“Question: If you owned this house for, like, a long time already. How come that you all lived inside an apartment? I mean, wouldn’t it be easier to have only one, especially to conserve money?” Dawn asked while she quietly hoped that she could manage to avoid the touchier topic.
“We just wanted to get away from all this.” Aria replied. “Y’know, you spent so long in the same place, and it is nice and personal of course. But eventually, we just got… the urge to live somewhere else for a while. Money wasn’t really that much of a concern, and it cut away at our travel time for many things.”
“Actually, there is a problem with the apartment.” Dawn turned back towards her friend, cocking her head in curiosity. She could think of a few things that could be a problem, or atleast the start of one. Of course, she herself could be a reason, even though she had hoped to avoid that.
“How bad is it?” She asked tentatively.
“Not extremely problematic, but enough to warrant a change of sorts.” Aria explained. It was a bit strange to Dawn how her friend could be so nonchalant when talking about a problem concerning her living arangments.
“To summarize, my landlord has been acting up a lot recently. He wants to raise the rent by quite a lot, among other reasons because there is another person living there now. Then there is a whole lot of other stuff he is complaining about, things have been rather tense the last few months.” Aria gestured around the room. “So, you’re kinda right with what you said. I was thinking for the last few days, maybe we could just ditch the apartment and move into this house again?”
“Uh, well… Yeah, why not? That would be really cool.” Dawn sputtered a bit there, her mind had taken a moment to fully understand that she could be living in this house. There was a small bit of unease in her, a reminder that she would still be sleeping in a bed of one of Aria’s deceased sisters. But Aria seemed okay with it, afterall she wouldn’t have made the offer otherwise. As selfish as that may sound, she could live with it.
“Alright.” Aria said as she clapped her hands together. “We should still have a car in the garage to get our stuff, it’s not that much so I think we can bring it all here before evening.”
“Don’t we have a to make a check-up by the hospital?” Dawn asked even as she was already standing up from the table.
“Yeah, but that won’t take long. And even then, we can always bring the rest in tomorrow. The whole paperwork should also not be overly time consuming, so don’t worry. We’re not in a haste.”
“Alright. Let’s get going anyway, the sooner we start the better, right?” Dawn said enthusiastically.
“Good, she doesn’t seem to suspect anything.” Aria thought to herself as she followed the red-skinned girl outside.
The sharp wind whipped around them, as Aria drove through the streets and into a specific parking lot. It was a building relatively near their new home, which was of course very practical. It also meant that most likely, the people attending the restaurant could be placed into the better situated or dowright rich echelons of society. Atleast if they came here more regularly.
And it certainly seemed fancy from the outside, Dawn had to admit that as they dismounted from the bike and Aria secured it. It didn’t really help her though. There was a subdued nervousness inside her, she had trouble placing the actual cause of it.
One option, the simplest, was that things had moved a lot recently, they had moved. Going from an apartment to a mansion in a couple of days was rather overwhelming, the bed and corresponding chamber in particular had felt so big and empty at night. And now she stood here in a fancy dress, her hair done in a beautiful braid (Aria had more knowledge of that then she would have thought), before an establishment that catered to people better off than many. She felt too strange here, like being a foreign organism.
Aria didn’t though. She seemed to blend right in. The way her body moved, her poisture, she acted nothing like the girl Dawn was living with. Like a dancer she walked, fluid and with practised grace. And that was the second option of Dawn’s nervous state.
“Come on, or do you want to stay here and freeze into an icicle?” Aria’s typical snarky comments were still the same, even when her voice purposefully lacked her rougher edges. Then, startling Dawn and causing a small and muffled yelp, the fuchsia girl simply grabbed the other’s arm and hooked it into her own.
Again, the second option. Simply put, Aria was beautiful right now. And she was bringing the amnesiac girl to a fancy restaurant, intentionally teasing her with the big surprise she had planned.
If Limestone would ever hear of this, she was sure that they would never hear the end of it.
The thing, or the problem, was that she would have a point, somewhat. Dawn would have to be blind if she were still unsure wether or not Aria cared about her. Because she did, both of them did. And it did make Dawn really happy.
Yet… she was also aware of how people from outside might view them. And the problem for her was that she had no idea how to act here. Right now, she just tried to act normal and not let her friend figure out that she was feeling a bit jittery.
Because she could not deny that Aria, as she gently guided her through the entrance deeper into the lavishingly decorated halls, was not stunning or that she made her feel very fuzzy in her chest right now.
No focus! You’re thinking too much into this, you’re making it way weirder than it is. Just stay calm and enjoy this. She yelled at herself in her own mind. Then she tried to calm down via controlled breathing, as they stepped into a lounge area of sorts.
The room was quite sizeable, with many round tables of varieng sizes and even more elegant chairs sitting around them. It was decorated very tastefully, and the many candles gave the whole a warm, some would maybe say romantic, ambiente. All the people sitting in pairs or groups were chatting with eachother, some laughing.
Dawn, however, felt almost intimidated by it all. Then she saw the table that the both of them were steering towards. It was nicely decorated with flowers and a trio of tall candles already burning. Her guts were squirming and her arm held Aria even stronger.
“Dawn, why don’t you go and wait over there at that table?” The look that the fuchsia girl received was one of equal confusion and outright shock. “I’ll just prepare a few things, won’t take ten minutes.”
Aria would have left then and there, but she didn’t. That was because Dawn looked like she was starting to panik, her eyes slowly widening and her hands trembling slightly. Putting on her best comforting face, Aria took the two cardinal red hands into her own.
“Hey, don’t worry.” She said with a soft voice. “I know these people, I trust them, so you can too. And no matter what, I won’t be far away. It will just be a few minutes and then you’ll see me again. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”
Against all odds, Dawn felt herself calm down at the unusually soft voice of her friend. The thought of being so suddenly separated in an unknown place full of unknown people had thrown her into a sudden anxiety attack. But listening to the almost melodic, crystal clear voice of the person in front of her easily took away all these fears.
She nodded and let herself be escorted to the intended seat, still unwilling but now in an agreement to stay put for the time being. Once the employee had wandered off, Dawn started to look around the place. It was really fanciful.
Near her was some sort of upraised part of the floor, where no tables or chairs had been positioned. This part of the room was also decorated more. But as of right now, it did not interest her at all.
Figuring that she could not complain against her friend’s sudden disappearance, Dawn began to let her eyes wander around the room, once again trying to distract herself by looking at people. She of course picked those that would likely not notice her staring. Generally, they seemed to be all dressed in well made or expensive looking suits and dresses. But there were only a few that stood out from the rest to her, wether by their distinctive frame or other such things.
One example was a large and muscular man, his red face framed perfectly by a deep black suit that also made the greying hairs in his beard stand out. He was chatting amiably with a woman wearing a long and sleek dress that blended black and green together well. Her skin was an almost cold shade of black, but her hair was of a dark turquoise, long and like silk. But not just their complementing looks caught her eye. It was also their shared air of regal authority; the aura of two strong-willed people, who where still in genuinely enjoying each other’s company, it seemed. Dawn watched their mannerisms for a few minutes, unconsciously smiling, before she turned her gaze elsewhere.
Not much later, she found another table with rather interesting occupants. This time it seemed to be two young women, maybe just as old as she herself likely was. These two seemed to be talking with eachother as well, yet Dawn felt like they were not in such a good mood like the rest of the people here.
One had smooth alabaster-white skin and was wearing a beautifully crafted dress that mixed different shades of purple, violet and pink, while her own purple hair remained the darkest of all the shades. Her partner had the skin of soft yellow and long pink hair that was tied up in an elaborate knot, instead of the stylish freefall that the first one had. Her own dress covered nearly her entire body and was devoid of any embroidery or other decorations. It was pure black, looked like something one would wear to a funeral.
She looked down at the table the two girls shared, while her partner was holding her hands together and seemingly speaking very quietly to her.
Dawn could not stare for long however, as a man in a suit walked onto the raised platform and gathered the attention of the entire room. The lone girl did not listen to him at first, as she looked around for her own friend and so she only registered that tonight something special would be happening. People clapped as the man took his microfone in hand and raised an arm towards the entrance of the stage.
“And so, I am very happy to present to you, once again, our very special pesnya ptitsa nochi.” Dawn’s head turned around faster than her neck would have liked. From somewhere in the room, her head barely registered a muffled gasp. She knew these words, she had heard the old man, Aria’s friend, at the mechanic shop call her that, or atleast a shorter version. When Dawn had asked, Aria had told her what it meant. Song bird of the night.
Indeed, there she was. Stepping on the stage with her eyes closed, yet as direct as she always was. The embroidery on her dress, until now pretty much invisble, lit up under the lights directed at her. Her piercing purple eyes opened, finding Dawn near her she winked.
And then Aria Blaze started to sing.
At first there was only a melody. Her voice was clear like crystal, soft and beautiful. Dawn would have never expected this from her friend, who always seemed to be a bit deeper and rougher than others.
Yet here, the sound of her voice was like a gentle river, flowing without interruption and linking together tones flawlessly. Her heartpace was getting faster as her eyes widened.
There was a pause, where it felt like a falling pin could be heard.
Then Aria started to sing the first of her lyrics. The words mostly escaped Dawn’s mind, later she could not recall what they had been about. But she did not need to remember them. The melody itself was telling her a story.
It was wonderful. It was breath-taking.
It was enchanting.
It made you understand what it was about, even without saying it directly.
The melody was soothing but also somber, carrying with it the tale of loss and struggle. Even when Aria raised her voice, she never shouted, always keeping in that smooth flowing tone, with which she seemed to weave words and tunes together.
She never made a pause before the next song followed the last one, maybe there wasn’t even multiple, but one single piece? Dawn could not have been able to tell, so enraptured she was. Even her sense of time alluded her completely.
She just sat there, struck and surprised like so many others in the room, listening to her friend. Sometimes, she could feel tears forming in her eyes. Other times, she closed her eyes and focused on the melody alone, a smile grazing her lips.
In the last minutes, Aria started to raise her voice in volume and strength. . Then, she began to let the melody slowly fade out, bringing her song to rest on one final note.
Immediately, the whole room was filled with applause. Many were standing up, while they were clapping, whistles and shouts of appraisal were given. Dawn was contributing to this as well; she could not bring herself not to applaud what her friend had just delivered.
Aria simply gave an elegant bow towards her odience. She smiled gently as they appraised her, even as she turned and walked off the stage. Before she fully left the spotlight though, she gave another well-practised bow and a wave with her hand.
Not long after and she entered the room again through one of the more normal entrances and beelined towards the table that Dawn was still sitting at. As she passed through the room, people stood up to speak with her, they thanked her for her singing and they complimented her. She always said only a few polite words, enough to satisfy them so she could continue her on her way.
“And? It seems like you enjoyed the show.” Aria said as she had finally reached the table that the red girl was sitting at. Her typical smirk adorned her face.
“Yes!” Dawn replied happily. “It was beautiful, Aria. I didn’t know that you could sing so wonderfully.”
Aria chuckled. “Well, I figured it may ruin the surprise somewhat if I had told you. Now, if you want to, we can eat dinner here. They have a really good kitchen and-”
Aria’s gaze suddenly shifted to a point away from them. Her body tensed up like an animal that was aware of a rival nearby. She remained calm to the outside, but Dawn was able to pick up the signs that her friend had spotted something that put her on alert.
Following her eyes, Dawn tried to find what- or whoever it was, yet in the surrounding crowd she could not be certain enough until the couple literally stood before them. When they did, Dawn recognized them from before.
The black-clad girl was somewhat clinging to her alabaster companion, looking like she was very unsure of what they were doing. Her head poisture reminded Dawn of Marble Pie, who acted similar when trying to hide behind a cascade of hair. This girl, however, still had her’s in the knot and thus lacked the hair-cover.
But where she showed uncertainty, her partner radiated calm confidence. Looking directly at Aria, she directed the other without forcing her, acting more like crutch.
“Good evening.” She said. It sounded so polite, so nonchalantly. An outsider might assume the two parties did not know eachother. Yet Dawn could see the recognition and the added worry in the eyes of both of the newcomers, Aria… well she could almost taste the disdain her friend had for those two.
Nevertheless, they were in a somewhat crowded place. Making a scene was not something that Dawn Fire really wanted and she was certain that Aria would also avoid it. Also, she was probably the only one who did not know the opposition. Dawn was maybe in the best position to defuse this.
Maybe she could learn more about Aria? No, she had bigger priorities. She trusted Aria, if there was anything important, she would just ask her friend about it directly.
“Good evening to you as well.” The redhead said with her best attempt to be polite, making a small curtesy. “Can we help you with anything?”
This seemed to work, somewhat. The more regal of the two girls smiled gently and answered with her own little bow.
“Yes, actually. We just wanted to congratulate Miss Aria here for her performance. You see we know eachother a bit and the two of us were surprised to see her here.” Her timid friend answered with a rather quiet voice.
“But oh, where are our manners? My name is Rarity Belle and this here is Fluttershy Petalwing. A pleasure meeting you here.” The alabaster girl made another short bow.
“My name is Dawn Fire. Nice to meet you too.”
“Forgive me if I am being rude here.” Rarity said. “But what brings you to this wonderful place?”
Dawn glanced to her friend, unsure of what to say, but she did not find any directions in the other’s expression. “Aria invited me here. We live together in the same apartment, for convenience.” She of course left out her own amnesia’s part in the story.
“Ah, naturally. We ourselves have come here to take our minds of recent stresses, if you will. Experiencing this performance was not something either of us expected, though we certainly do not complain. It has been quite a while since we heard you sing, my dear Aria.” The purple-haired one said.
“Indeed, it has.” Aria replied. “This time you even let me sing to the end.”
Rarity gave neither word nor facial reaction as an answer, though she turned towards Dawn when she saw the clueless expression. “We were all part of a musical competition, not that long ago. A band battle, if you will. Fluttershy, several friends and my small self went up against Miss Blaze here and her sisters, in the finals no less. In hindsight, I have to admit that it wasn’t the most peaceful event.”
“For this, we’d like to extend an apology towards you and your sisters.” The other girl, Fluttershy, spoke up with. “None of you have to accept of course. But we hoped to maybe get to know you.”
“It is good to see that you have regained yourself after the finales.” Rarity spoke again.
“On account of all… present Rainbooms, that is our band name dear,” she quickly shot to Dawn with a sheepish smile. “We would like to bury the hatchet, so to speak.”
Dawn did not realize that she had grabbed Aria’s hand until she felt in twisting in her own grip. She had not been able to help or stop herself. As soon as the polite girl in front of her had mentioned Aria’s sisters, Dawn had tensed up. Her skin prickled and goosebumps stretched all across her body and it was definitely not the good kind.
Surprisingly, Aria seemed to relax in her hand. She lost the tension of an animal that had encountered an enemy. Her lips pressed together for a moment, unbeknownst to the other girls, Aria had to supress a cruel smirk.
“Well, I am afraid that I will not be able to speak for my dear sisters. So. you will have to do with my own personal answer. Which would be Fuck off! Regarding the others, they did not have the good fortune I received and didn’t take our loss well at all. If you want to ask them about it, I would suggest meeting them at their new place. Dawn, we’re going.” Throughout her answer, Aria had managed to stay utterly calm, even while venom filled her voice. Both girls flinched unwillingly several times, as if the words had been yelled at them. They just stood there, while Aria lead her companion towards the exit. Then the fuchsia girl turned around again.
“Oh, my bad, I forgot to give you their new address. Thanatos Street, I’m sure you know where that is, west from the entrance, tenth row. They are right next to eachother.”
They did not reply, as their faces distorted in shock. Dawn wanted to say something, but even if she would have known what, her friend pretty much dragged her out of sight and towards the parking lots.
Their trip back was silent. Of course, normally there was little room to talk on the back of a motorcycle, but this time Dawn felt like Aria had been put in a sour mood. She had a vague idea why that was, though of course she lacked the details.
So deep in her own thoughts and contemplation, Dawn only noticed them slowing down when the bike drove off the road and came to a standstill.
“Are you alright?” She asked her friend, worry clear to hear in her voice.
Aria took her helmet off first, shaking her long hair free and dismounted from her bike.
“I just need a moment to calm down. Got my wings ruffled up a bit.” She said.
Dawn just nodded. Looking around to pass the time in silence, she saw where Aria had parked her vehicle. They were right in front of a sizeable building, in a sort of courtyard with a statue in the middle. The lack of sufficient light made it hard to see much in the way of significant characteristics, so Dawn could not say what this building was.
“You know,” Aria broke the silence, her voice laced with a somber but also reminiscing tone. “this is the school where that competition was held. And where we lost it all. This is where everything started.”
“Oh.” It was the only thing that she could say.
“Aria, ho-“ She stopped herself, hesitating for a second before turning away. “Forget it”
“Not a chance now.” Aria smirked. With a few fast steps she stood in front of Dawn and looked her straight in the eyes.
They looked at each other for what felt like minutes. Aria studied her faciel features, noted the serious look. With nothing of her previous attitude left, she asked: “Let me guess, you want to know how it did happen to them?”
Again Dawn hesitated, averting her eyes from her friend. She wanted to know, it felt to her like this competition was in some part responsible for it. The way that Aria had brought out her sisters’ death, she had intended to shock them of course, but if Dawn was right, then she also wanted them to feel guilty.
“No!” She made her decision.
“Huh?”
“I don’t want to you to tell me. Not just because I asked and you feel oblieged to answer me.” She said to the surprised girl in front of her. “You are my friend Aria. You tell me when you want to.”
At first her features were unreadable, as if they could not decide how they should act like. Then, surprisingly, they softened up. Aria smiled, as if she was genuinely touched by what she had just heard. “… Thanks. That is really considerate from you.”
Dawn smiled too. Her chest felt a bit fuzzy as they stood here, before them the school building. Nobody else was in the streets right now. It was as silent as the city could become, the everpresent snow muffling what noises were made by distant cars. In their thick coats, the two of them were warded well against the cold, but still, standing next to the other somehow felt more comfortable.
Dawn blushed slightly, hoping that Aria would not notice it in the dim light. Itching closer to her, she opened her arms for a hug.
It took the other a second to realize the intention, a second in which Dawn desperately hoped that she would accept it. But she didn’t, leaving her standing like this awkwardly.
“Not right now, okay?”
Dawn nodded and smiled embaressed, her heart betrayed her in simply brushing off the rejection. At the very least, Aria had not been harsh. Still, it stung her. Just a bit.
“Hey Dawn, come on, I want to show you something.”
It startled her, when the soft fuchsia hand grasped her own, breaking her from her inner thoughts and leading her towards the school building. The thing that Aria seemed to walk towards was a statue. As far as she could make out in the dim light, it was a horse rearing up on its hindlegs. They stopped directly in arms reach of it.
“Pretty interesting statue, don’t you think?” Aria said to her. It threw the red girl a bit into confusion, was she trying to take her mind off things? Because she could not think of any other reason for her to suddenly take an interest in this thing.
She took a closer look at the carved figure towering above them. It was a nice piece, she had to admit, and…
Her skin prickled. Madly.
Where her chest had been fuzzy before, now it got rapidly stronger to the point she had trouble keeping her breath even. The air around her also seemed to have lost its chill. Instead it was rich and warm and she found herself drinking it in her body. At this point, she did not notice anything outside of her and the statue.
Her left hand reached forward, closing in on the smooth-looking stone. It was a weirdly intoxicating feeling. Her body felt on edge, hairs standing straight, a rush of energy flooding her veins; but whatever she felt it did not feel like enough, just a small taste.
Skin met with marble. She drew in a deep breath.
It felt like electrizity was shooting through her entire body. She did not scream, even though her body demanded it.
It was painful, it was definitely alarming if she could have formed coherent thoughts right now. But it felt great, she could not argue against that.
Her surroundings returned as she fell to the ground, her arms shooting out reflexively and holding her face away from the snow below her. Every single muscle in her body was tensing up, as if readying for a fight. She was sweating profusely, she felt like she was overheating.
“Are you alright?” Aria was kneeling beside her, sounding as if she spoke through water.
“Wha-what was that?” Dawn sputtered as she clutched her chest. Her skin still prickled, like needles were trying to grow out of her. Her hands felt swollen, her spine ached and her head was pulsing painfully.
Yet it only held on for a minute or so, before dulling. The only thing left was the occasional twitching in her limbs. What remained however, was the pure energy she felt in her body.
“I don’t know.” Aria said after a while, as she helped the other girl back onto her feet.
“Actually, I think it was probably not that important. Maybe you just forget it.”
Her voice made Dawn relax. After all, she could trust her friend. Back on her feet, her mind was slowly getting more and more dizzy. Which as weird, because she could not remember drinking anything while at the fancy place.
Speaking of which, she had to think of that beautiful song Aria had sung. Its flowing melody seemed to fill her ears once again, making her smile.
“Infact, you really look tired to me. Come on, let us get home.”
And so her friend carefully lead her back to the bike. Telling her to hold on again and driving back to the apartment. Of course, Dawn did exactly as her friend had told her.
As they pulled out from the streets, and as they made their way up the stairs, Dawn let the evening go through her mind again. Her anxiety before Aria had surprised her with that wonderful performance. Those two girls. How Aria had driven them home and made a short stop to calm down. And then she had felt so tired, so they had hurried back.
All those emotions must have robbed her of her energy. She just felt so tired.
“G’night, Aria.” She mumbled before slipping into her own room. She had enough energy to change and make herself bed ready. But when she hit the bed, she passed out almost immediately.
Carefully she peaked through the narrow doorslit, knowing full well that her eyes would be all to visible, especially when there was no light on either side of the door. She waited, one minute, two, five. There was no movement from them both, until she had counted to exactly three hundred. Looked like Dawn was finally and fully asleep.
Still stepping lightly, Aria made her way down the stairs towards the enourmous living room. Falling down into her own personal comforter, she released a sigh she had not noticed holding.
“I really am a bitch, aren’t I?
This pang of guilt did not last long before being squashed. Still, it left somewhat of a bitter aftertaste. Aria shook her head.
“Ugh, no matter! I’ll figure out why she is dormant. Just gotta have to keep an extra eye on her for the next days.”
Beep
Beep
Beep
She was getting closer, she knew it. The readings that her device was giving her had lead her to this very place, she just had to get to spot of the strongest concentration.
Everything around her was dark, it was deep in the night. Her parents did not know where she was right now, if her measures worked, they would not figure it out. If they did, she’d likely sink into the ground from the shame alone.
There! The signal was spiking.
Her steps were getting faster.
Then she stood before it. The source, the hot spot. Another one.
And again, it was here at this school. Why was it always at this school?
In last year’s summer she had picked it up the first time. A new frequency, a new kind of signal.
If she were correct, a new kind of energy. And then it was gone. Her equipement had not been calibrated for this, she had not made anything for it yet. It had been luck, technically a mistake in her settings that were just right to sense the sudden pulse.
The second time, in fall, she had been proven that this was something special, something different then all she already knew about. And that time she had been able to pick up more. Enough data to start working on the first crude prototype. It had lead her here, but she had not been able to find a lot. True, she had not been observing the place at all. Still, nothing unusual.
As she upgraded her devices and formulated theories and thesies, her scanner picked up another spot. On the bridge where the accident had happened, right in the center of the blast zone, she had gotten strong signals. Yet when she had returned only hours later, there was nothing left. She did not know the answer as to why.
Still, she had again gathered data, refined her sensors, and waited.
And now, she again found this energy. She could count herself fortunate that she had made taking her device with her all the time a habit by now.
This time she was more prepared. The signal was feiner then it should have been, but she could get so much from this.
Canterlot High School, Twilight thought to herself as she unpacked her equipement. What is happening here?
Not what was in front of her, while still surprising it had been one of the possible outcomes in her planning; what she did not expect was the fact that she felt great worry as well as guilt for the girl. Because it was too much of a coincidence for this state to not be in correlation to her experiement last evening.
“Ariaa…” The sweaty red lump groaned from the bed.
Not that she regretted it per-sé, it was simply that this outcome didn’t really sit well with her, making her wish it had gone maybe a bit better. But those things were rather out of her hand... well she could do something.
However, not only was her knowledge in this area limited, she also wanted to avoid using her abilities more than necessary.
“Ariaaaaaaaa…” She grumbled out again, louder and more pressing then before.
“I’m here, don’t worry.” Aria said while she began to apply freshly wetted pieces of cloth to cool her roommate down, even if just a bit. Then she started to wipe away some of the sweat that covered practically her entire body.
Dawn was really not in a comfortable state right now. True, the fuchsia girl had seen much worse and this didn’t seem like anything even remotely life-threatening, but there was no denying that it was bad. Her friend’s body was burning, atleast it felt like that, which had warranted her to throw away both pyjama and covers as well as requiring cooling.
As unpleasent as this situation was for the both of them, although one had it exceedingly worse, Aria could not lie that it had provided her with a few more interesting pieces of knowledge.
Simple fact was, Dawn was not nearly as worse in a condition, as her temperature should put her in. Before she had realized this, Aria had almost, almost, panicked when she had tested her roommate’s temperature. Normally, these levels would be harmful and uncomfortably close to being lethal for the patient. But even with her own limited medical knowledge, Aria could safely say that Dawn was not at that state.
The only explanation was that the red-skinned girl was extremely resilient to either heat or sicknesses and afflictions in general. Some would maybe say that this would be unnatural, impossible even. But she knew better then that. Also it may even explain a few things, afterall Dawn had never really seemed to be bothered by the cold weather outside. No, she had been found completely naked and soaked in the cold, yet no frostbite, no problem. And the few other times that Aria had seen her in the snow, she had never seen Dawn complain over the cold or react to it, no matter how frosty it was.
“Mhrmm… waddeeer?” The subject of her fascination mumbled before her. Aria immediately complied with the request and carefully guided the filled glass and the straw to the appropriate position.
Dawn however had apparently no patience and simply turned in the bed, pressing herself upwards on one arm so she could try and take the glass with the other. Not that Aria would just let her do that, otherwise the chances were high that her impromptu patient would lose grip on the water. Or lose it again through mouth and nose.
Quickly, the unrelenting hold of the fuchsia girl emerged victories and Dawn had to content with the glass moving to her lips without her own guidance. She was incredibly thirsty, but Aria more or less forced her to take slow and measured sips of the cooling liquid, instead of gulping it all down in one go.
Her friend’s method was probably better, but she really did not have the mind to care about that, not when her brain felt like it wanted to boil itself into soup. Or maybe it was cooking itself soft and smooth like grill cheese.
Mhmm, grill cheese…
Aria had quickly left the room to get another full bottle of water, after the current one was now completely empty. When she returned though, she saw that her friend had simply fallen asleep on the bed.
Quietly putting the bottle down, safely out of reach and sight from the bed of course since she did not want Dawn to hurt herself by trying to get it, Aria immediately left the room again.
She would check in about half an hour. Right now she had to think about what she should do.
“Alright Dawn.”
“Hmmhrr…”
“Does something hurt?” Aria asked. She was kneeling on the bed, right beside her currently incapacitated friend. She had opted for a sleeveless shirt, simply because she wanted to have her arms completely free.
“Yeeeees!”
“Where are you hurting?”
“Everywhere is where I’m hurting.”
“Anywhere more specific? C’mon, give me something specific.”
Dawn just grumbled and flopped around in her bed so she presented Aria her backside. Twisting her arm she pointed it to an area around her spine. “There.”
Aria just rolled her eyes, not like the girl before her could even see her really. Reaching down her hands began to carefully prodd and rub the cardinal red skin right over the spine. Up and down she went, trying to find the specific spots where her friend’s flesh seemed to be especially sensitive.
“Is it here? Just give me a sign if it starts to hurt or gets uncomfortable.” She said, a softness creeping into her voice on its own. Dawn just gave a slight headshake, so she moved on.
“Hrghnnn!” As soon as Aria started to touch the flesh directly inbetween the other’s spine and left shoulder blade, she got a reaction from the other girl. Out of curiosity, she lifted her hands and touched the same spot on the other side of Dawn’s spine.
“Hrghnnnnnnnn!”
“Yep, looks like I found one of the problems. Hang on, please, I will try something.” Reaching over to the nightstand, she grasped one of the bottles she had brought into this room. Pressing some of its gel-like content into her hands she began to rub it onto the area between her friend’s shoulder blades, simultainiously massaging the sensitive skin carefully.
The effect was not really immediate, but Dawn’s strained groans started to melt into a more content sound. Kinda like a sort of purring. That was also why she did not complain about the discomfort she felt in those two spots, for to her it felt like Aria was rubbing over bone only barely covered by skin.
Her caretaker however took notice of these two bones nubs, noting them down in her own brain. Under the guise of massaging the tender spots she could feel how the bone strained the skin just a bit, which confirmed it as a recent development.
This would add possible transmutation as a side effect. Though she could not be certain just now.
“Alright, where else?” Aria asked when she finally finished.
“Head is boiling, hand and feet are itchy and weird. Throat’s dry.” Dawn mumbled halfway into her pillow. Her eyes were already threatening to close, it looked like she was about to fall asleep again.
Just to test it, Aria carefully took one of her friend’s red hands into her hand. They did feel a bit weird, she would have expected them to be swollen maybe, but they felt more hardened in a way; almost a leathery texture, though not quite as hard. Especially at the fingers. So, Aria started to slowly massage them as well, one hand at a time, while she looked for any other areas of discomfort, both to ease some of the pain and gather more valuable information.
Dawn was sleeping, thankfully. It made Aria’s work so much easier. Predominately because she would not have to clear any unwanted questions, or act against them.
One hand was hovering only a hairlength over the sweaty red skin of the sick girl. The other one though, that hand clutched the crimson gem on its long chain as it pulsated gently.
Aria’s lips were constantly moving to form words, though little sound escaped her mouth. Her eyes were sometimes closed, then they opened and darted around, taking in the body before her and focusing on specific sections.
When she had entered the room last time, Aria had immediately recognized the new sense in the air. That familiar energy was even now saturating the space around the bed and indeed Dawn was the new source of it.
While this spoke in favor for the house lady’s theories, it also created even more questions.
Magic emits from a being, object or location wielding it or where it has been used or when it has been stored. Aria recounted as her hand swept over the body again. So what of that is happening here?
As far as she could ascertain, Dawn’s current state was caused by the sudden influx of energy that she had received the previous day. This alone would not have worried Aria overly much, if the fact would not remain that this could have serious and permanent physical changes. And she had kept eyes, and fingers, open all day to spot any signs of such transformations, but there had been nothing concrete. Yet.
Sure, some areas had given the first signals of transmutation such as hands, feet and the spine, but she had not been able to make out anything significant.
This recent change had prompted her to finally make a more thorough inspection, something that Aria had to admit she should have done a bit early. Though, the results were both appeasing and confusing.
Dawn had not suffered any damages or undergone major physical changes, just slight variations. Everything was relativly healthy and her bodily functions all sounded as they should.
The only thing that Aria noted, and she was by far not the expert in this practice, was that Dawn’s body seemed a bit more unstable. Nowhere near enough to cause any problem, otherwise she would have noticed way sooner and be far more worried.
No, if she was right, then Dawn was simply more malleable in her biological structure. Someone like this could be essentially molded by a being with sufficient expertise and abilities in transmutation magic. Though the possibilities for such elluded Aria, since she had pretty much zero knowledge in that specific art, she could imagine a fair bit.
But as it stood right now, she had to continue observing, because otherwise there would be not a lot of changes.
Not that that was really a bad thing in her mind. She already felt partially guilty for bringing her friend in this state. And nothing else would happen; Dawn would simply get better while her body got familiar again with the new energy.
The only exception would be if an outside influence would reach and mess with her. And Aria would be damned to Tartarus and back if that happened.
All around her was the same, a landscape of pulsing strands of a sort of energy. She saw them in cyan, in different shades of red, in amber and a few in gold. They wove around her, the presence of the being that only knew itself as Dawn Fire, many ending only a couple of armslengths away from herself.
She felt a push and pull inside her body as well as her mind, accompanied by a painful feeling in her head. A sensation that she was not that unfamiliar with, she had witnessed it in her dreams before. Yet this time it seemed to grow continuously to the point of absurdity.
Suddenly, something inside of her changed. Her stomach felt like it had swallowed a couple of spiked stones, her brain was being pulled apart by two opposing sides. In her ears she could hear a familiar voice screaming words, yet she could not make out what it was.
In this mystical and abstract plane, she began to feel all to real as she started to gag. There was something inside of her. And she wanted it out!
Her hands clutched her stomach, she could feel something coming out of her eyes, then her ears, the mouth, the nose. Crimson droplets, then thin streams that flowed weightlessly away from her. The strands around her contorted and pulsed where the blood met them, spaces fizzling and distorting. There were voids, small, black and filled with nothingness; they hurt, letting the pain bring the message that something was missing from them. The voice changed then. She felt it speak inside her yet also all around the void, telling her, asking, begging to stop. Yet she still fought on to purge this thing, this parasite out of her system, rid herself of the unwanted presence that was causing her all this by dragging it out of herself. And it felt like she succeeded, it was indeed coming up her throat.
In one act of willpower, she forced it out of her body.
Or rather, as it seemed, them.
Two globes, one a deep red and the other a golden colour, came out of her mouth. They were dangling in the air as she hunched forward, tethered to her by thin colourful threads.
But one by one these threads snapped and were yanked back into her mouth. And while she felt increasingly better, with each lost connection, the balls became weaker and fainter until they both glowed with but a sickly remnant of their former power.
“It was only a matter of time.” A sad voice sighed out from somewhere.
Before her eyes, the two globes weakly floated away from her, as they formed into two shapes.
The red ball transformed into a girl of amber skin wearing a leather jacket and a mostly orange skirt. She stared angrily, her red and golden hair actually moving and emitting a faint glow, like an actual fire. There was a great desire in her cyan eyes that narrowed like those of a predator, yet, it was overshadowed by something else. Fear.
The golden one changed as well. Appearing in a form that she was unfamiliar with, yet she felt something, a connection of sorts. Her skin was purple, her hair an even darker shade, with strands of two different colours. She was wearing a beautiful dress, like her hair it was flowing on its own in an ethereal wind.
This… being opened her eyes, they were shining like crystals, but they were also showing a deep sadness.
“Hello, Sunset.” She whispered; guilt was present in her voice just as much as resignation.
The one who knew herself as Dawn Fire took a speak back, glaring suspiciously at the two things that had just formed before herself. Her mind flared up as sensations threatened to flood her, yet she pushed them all away only to focus on what was in front of her, even as the strands around her began moving faster, gathering behind her, and more seemed to join.
“Who are you!” She demanded angrily. “What is all this? And why do you call me that, who is Sunset?”
Even as she said the name, her eyes became consumed by light.
“You know who it is. Let them in and remember!” The strands jerked as if struck by electrizity. Spaces distorted like they were boiling. And in them, specks formed, appearing from nothing and banding together into fragments that joined the rest of the swirling colours.
Remember!
She… saw. A building, a home if only temporary for herself and… others. A place where she had been brought, all day long. She remembered; she saw a little… girl? Amber skin and fiery hair, always waiting for her father to pick her up, waving to the other children. And then she saw the memory of the day that he had not come back, how she had waited for hours, how she had cried as the caretakers told her.
She remembered living at the daycare now, for her and few others it was an… orphanage. She saw herself, playing with other children, practicing-? No something wasn’t right.
Then she saw Her. She was tall, elegant and fair like an angel, and just as beautiful. Her skin was a smooth alabaster and Her long hair a number of wonderful colours, constantly flowing in the wind. But, something was still wrong, she felt her own mind pressing against a barrier.
‘I want to know, I have a right to know!’ She demanded and pushed. Like a torn veil the barrier was finally destroyed. She saw clearly. She could make out soft fur instead of bare skin, four hooves. Feathered wings and long and elegant horns that sparked with energy. She herself practicing magic with the other kids, no, foals, like she had been one.
And the Angel. Still She towered over her own self, yet She felt like something that she had never had. A mother.
“Have no fear, my little pony. Your name is Sunset Shimer, isn’t it?”
‘Princess Celestia?’ She called out into the void. But the images were already dissipating, leaving her alone with the two beings that were circling her.
“Now,” the fiery one said. “you know; remember and accept it. What is your name?”
Sunset looked at her, then at the other being behind her. Slowly, she felt her mind clearing, the locks, barriers, and clouds that she had not been aware of giving away. Looking at her own hands, she could see through the transparent red skin like coloured glass, glimpsing at limbs that resembled the self she had just seen in the memories. Fair amber skin, for a long time even with fur. Carefully, she measured every single word against the two creatures. “My name is Sunset Shimmer. Daughter of Falling Flame and pupil of Princess Celestia. Now answer me, what happened, and who are you?!”
They stopped.
“Remember your ambition, your desire.” The fiery one spoke, her demand underlined by an almost feral growl. Black began to fill her eyes.
So, Sunset remembered. She saw herself rise, attending a school to hone her talent. How she had started to learn under the wing of Princess Celestia, the one who had taken her in. How the Great Princess of the Sun had taken her under her own alabaster wing, teaching her magic beyond the imagination of most beings. In those years, the ruler of a nation became the closest thing like a mother to Sunset.
She felt her own wanting need to become powerful, a leader and hero to those around her. She saw her own arrogance grow, how she longed after more esoteric and stronger arts and knowledges. And she remembered painfully how this drove her away from the one she had almost regared as her only and true family.
She saw herself staring in a mirror, seeing herself in the blessed form of an Ascendant, wings framing her horn. And she saw what she ended as; the form before her, a petty tyrant who could only receive anything by threats and manipulation.
And before her the being that embodied her Ambition transformed into the form that her own folly had created, a cruel being unworthy of the power she had sought to unrightly claim. A parody of what she desired to be.
“Remember your actions, the kindness that others brought you. And the determination you had to change yourself.” The ethereal one asked softly.
And so Sunset did. She saw the same figure standing before herself in her memories, offering the broken girl a hand to raise her from the crater of her follies. How she had brought her on a path away from the corrupting wants and influences. Instead she had offered her another way: friendship.
She saw them, all five, wary at first, as they slowly gave her an actual chance at redemption. All those great moments they had spent together, the smiles on their faces. How they had meetings and parties. And the seventh one, she who had started it all and was the first to reach out with a hand. Whenever she visited, they all cherished. And Sunset remembered, everytime she saw the purple face, how her heart warmed and she was again reminded of the kindness…
“Twilight?” Sunset asked shakingly.
The purple figure before her shook her head slowly.
“I am only assuming her form. She is someone you still, even now, care for deep down in your heart. She saved you,” At that her counterpart made a sound somewhere between a snort and a snarl, though she backed off as the Twilight-Being threw her a look. “when you where at your worst, when you needed someone to help you.”
Sunset felt it again: the rush of energy ripping into her and her soul. Changing her very being and bringing her back from the accursed form the… thing had allowed her to take. She saw Twilight at the center, the rightful owner of the crown.
And when it came to an end… she could feel now that something had remained inside her.
“What are you really?” She asked.
“Remnants of two different sides of the same coin.” The Twilight-Being said cryptically.
The response of Ambition was more direct. “Residual influences of great forces of power that once coursed through your body and have now latched onto part of your consciousness as well as your soul, thus creating pseudo-entities like us.”
Instantly, two images shot through Sunset’s eyes before materializing right in front of her. A crown that beheld a purple gem, radiating energy and power. She saw how her past self sat this accursed artefact onto her own head, before it all overwhelmed her and she became the demon.
The other image showed her again, Twilight!, as she rallied the others; the blast of energy that ripped her form apart and brought her back as she was before, driving the corruption away.
She could understand it, they made her understand it.
The element of magic, its power too much for her to remain sane and controlled. And she directed it with her pride and arrogance and her stupidAmbition that caused her to cast hate at so many.
Only to be swept away by the force of unified Harmony. Binding her back together, sustained by her friends and her own actions to redeem the mistakes she had wrought in the last months and years.
Two sides that battled the other, clashing ideologies; two opposites that were given form and thought inside her. Now she knew the truth of her life since the Fall Formal. That fateful night were her life had been reset to a new path, a better one. And she now knew them both: Ambition and Harmony. One a product of her own and the other an agent of a benevolent source.
But… what did that mean for her now? She recalled another name: Dawn Fire. Not an old one, words that she had read in a book once or perhaps encountered on a street sometime.
No, this one was fresh…
Her’s.
She was wrong. She did not know the truth about her life, atleast not all of it. There were still voids, fresh ones too. The important moments that would explain everything.
“What happened?” Sunset asked. This was the last question, the final barrier that she needed to clear. Somehow she could feel that she would not like it in the slightest. But it was too late now, she had to know.
Around her, the void shifted rapidly to answer her question. Multiple images flew by, surrounding her. She finally saw what had lead to her amnesia. The chaos that had enveloped CHS in its grasp, tearing apart friends, just like her own. How she had been blamed for it all.
The students that started to sneer at her, shove her and shout hurtful words. The physical attacks and the defiling of her locker. It all stacked on top eachother, a chorus of hate grown from past actions piling against. It pressed against her mind, threatining to drown her, she could feel her own guilt from then, but also the growing anger.
“N-no…” She forced out as her hands held her head, an evergrowing pain making itself known. “Too much!”
Everything stopped. Looking up, Sunset saw that she was standing in a hallway. Students were crowding around a scene that felt like a nightmare, seemingly frozen in time. She saw them both, Rarity and Fluttershy, as they reached out to… herself.
Sunset saw her own body, as her form was staring emptily at her hand covered in blood that she had coughed up just now. She knew what would happen next, short moments of herself twitching and convulsing on the ground while bleeding flashing in her eyes.
She felt their presence as the two entities walked somberly onto the scene. Her own ambition and the agent of Harmony. One resembling herself at her worst point and the other her savior.
“This is your fault!” Sunset snarled at them. There was no refute from either, she was right, she knew that she was right, they knew it.
“I had a purpose, Sunset. I was supposed to let you evolve, for you to fullfill your redemption.” The Twilight-entity motioned to the other. “But in those days, I could feel her growing stronger with your anger and your desperation, while I became weaker without harmony. There was no source for me to draw on, I could not for you had lost your friends. And I could not let you loose yourself again.”
Surprisingly, the other one said nothing; she just stood there, once again assuming the figure that Sunset had been like in her time before the Fall Formal instead of the demon.
“I made a mistake. When she tried to sweep me away that day, to make herself a heard part of you once more, to guide your actions, I resisted. I attempted to fight her. It was the catalyst for everything.” She said, her guilt for all to see. “You could not stand it. Our struggle resulted in nothing but pain for you. By the time that I had managed to achieve a temporary victory the damage was already done and they were trying to bring you to the hospital.”
Sunset felt it once again, albeit for only a fleeting moment. The shattering feeling of her brain, only pain as her mind, quite literally, was splitting itself apart.
“The bridge. They said there was an accident. So, what happened there? Was that because of you too?”
“Sadly, yes.” The agent of Harmony said. Her counterpart still looked at her, judging her with a slight smirk adorning her face. When the other one did not immediately elaborate, Ambition took over the part of recounting their actions.
“While they attempted to bring you away, I sought to find my next best course of action. I was too unsure of the possibilities, there were too many and too little time. So, I gathered some of your magic into your brain and tried to enact a small act of divination. A simple projection of how things may go if I’d do nothing, a calculation if you will.” She explained coldly, like a scientist discussing their latest experiement.
“The results where largely in this one’s favor.” She pointed a hand at the Twilight-entity. “So I took my chance with action.”
“When she tried to attack me again,” The purple figure hesitated for a moment. “…I made the same mistake again, but this time she was prepared for it. I was tricked into fighting back. Her sudden push was too much for me to handle, so I pulled onto your body’s magical wellspring, just as she planned. When she suddenly just stopped her assault, your magic became volatile. And she only left one way for it to go: outwards.”
“My magic?” It was all becoming too much for Sunset. Her thoughts were muddled by the things that she was seeing, as the scene around her changed again. The inside of the medical truck, all the people cramped into it, over her own bleeding form. People who were dead now. “No, no no, I didn’t have magic. This world is barren, I never had even a bit except when I had that stupid crown on my head.”
She already knew the answer though, back in her mind. It was stupid to deny it, yet she could only do that. Otherwise she would have to accept that she had been responsible for their deaths.
“You’re right, but only partially. After your first ascencion, magic started to flow into this world through the portal. And you absorbed it, it and the residue from the scuffle at the Formal.” Ambition corrected her nontheless.
“You are lying! I would have felt that.” Sunset’s voice spat those first words through the void loudly, giving her anger a direction in which to go. But even then her own mind could only confirm and accept the things that were said to her. Yet she did not want to accept it.
“Why don’t you ask her?” The smirk finally formed fully on the face that had once been Sunset’s own. Those same cyan eyes pierced into the agent of harmony with satisfaction.
“You…”
“Yes, I suppressed it. Kept it away from you to notice. It was safer that way, to let you concentrate on building yourself up again. If I had not… the risk was too high.” These words came empty from the entity’s mouth.
“What happened then?” Sunset asked restlessly. She had to know! “If I am right, this all happened on a Wednesday. But I was found days later.”
“I did what I maybe should have done earlier. I pulled back my own influence over your body, conceded to my opponent and withdrew. The gathered wellspring was now her’s and she started to reshape the body. Healed the wounds and worked to restore and improve it, but also to forever deny me and my source to influence you once again.” The agent admitted. Her skin seemed to lose colour and fade away slightly.
Fire flew around them. The explosion that had consumed the truck and everyone in it once again played before them. Only now Sunset could witness it. And she had to. She had to look at those people; while the personnel tried to stabilize her, veins under her skin suddenly swelled and pulsed. Magic flared faster then anyone could even see, before it lashed outwards from the form strapped to the gourney.
They did not die when the car crashed onto its side in the middle of the bridge, caused by the chassis and tires being ripped apart by strands of magic. They did also not die in the actual explosion when the oil tank was lit ablaze and consumed the entire vehicle, throwing the doors and more fragments as lethal shrapnel around.
No, everyone but herself had been dead already. Before the crash, before the explosion.
Because they had been killed by herself. Her magic, her consciousnesses. Her hands stained in blood. Their bodies were torn by the radiant energy that cut like hot blades through everything they touched.
“How did I survive this?” She whispered.
“You did not.” The scene played again. But this time Sunset saw it. As the explosion blasted away the doors of the truck, one more thing was thrown into the air from the vehicle’s insides. It must have been too fast or too blurry for those witnessing it, if no one had bothered to search the river. For Sunset looked as her own form was propelled into the stream below the bridge. Maybe it had been simple convinience that the truck had landed in such a way that its back was so near the edge of the stone structure. Maybe not.
“What?!” She could see her own body well as it slowly drifted to the bottom of the river, amidst underwater vegetation. There were burns and gashes from the explosion, bruises and more from the school. And there was no movement anymore.
“Your body was all but devoid of life. What kept you together was all the excess of energy. And while this one did its work own the vessel, I kept your mind and soul together and separate from the flesh.” As the Twilight-entity spoke, a thin and translucent sort of skin formed over the body that had been plunged into the water. “A sort of detached stasis to keep it safe, for we both knew that without them you would die completely and we with you, that was also why none dared to attack the other, not at this point. When it was all done, I brought your soul back to your body.”
They watched as the form started to move, brushing aside everything that had settled on it over its dormant time and slowly rose. The shimmering shield dissipated and Sunset could see… herself. The way that she had lived for the last couple of weeks now. The cardinal red skin, the hair that had changed just enough in composition and colour that people would not immediately recognize her. She saw the limb and lifeless form drift upwards and with the stream. It seemed to be at the river’s mercy, yet it soon resurfaced at one of the stone shores that lined the current. “Then, you were alive again.”
And Sunset saw the first breath of her new life. As so apparent with those memories, she felt some of the aspects of the scene she was witnessing. She bore witness to a body that was systematically re-activating itself. She also felt how neither the frigid water, the freezing wind or even the snow underneath her bare feet brought any discomfort to the naked and soaked form.
In hindsight, there had been several occasions were this unusual fact should have made it known to herself. Yet it had never bothered her. A look towards the entitiy that apparently had been responsible for changing her body earned Sunset a simple nod, and with that a confirmation to her theory. She had been made rather resistent.
“And what about my memories?” She asked the other entity, anger still thick in her voice. “If you said that my mind was kept so safe, then why couldn’t I remember anything?”
The agent looked her directly in the eyes this time. There was the rest of determination besides her constant sadness and guilt. “I kept them away, for your own safety. I used most of my remaining power to trigger your brain into believing it had witnessed traumatic events, so it would suppress the memories. Only that I managed to overload it and thus affect every single piece of your remembered past.”
Sunset’s anger was surpassed by disbelief. “You… Y-you did what?!”
“It had to be done. The risk of you falling into darkness upon your awakening had been too high. It was a blank slate, a chance to allow your body to complete the last transformations that it was undergoing without the weight of your past. Without this… it was the better choice.“
“THE BETTER CHOICE?!” Sunset could feel fire coursing through her veins, but it did not concern her for it felt good. The scene around them, how the newly awakened form staggered through the snow towards a group of three relaxing with their vehicle, started to melt away. The void became oppressive as the girl’s anger flared and the long-repressed magical power once again obeyed her whim. Both of the entities took an immediate step back. Though where the Twilight-Being looked like a dog that just got yelled at by its owner, the other one permitted itself a small smile.
“You… you are both guilty for causing this shit.” Small flames were licking Sunset’s finger tips.
“Please, Sunset-” The agent of Harmony tried to plead with her.
“Shut up!” Sunset growled at her. “Give me a reason, I beg you! You have no sway over me anymore, I have everything! One good reason why I should not ripped your pathetic little sentience apart!”
“Because you don’t have to. Our efforts worked… too well.” Ambition said coldly. She still smiled, but it was an empty one now. She had gotten the satisfaction of seeing her counterpart and long-time opponent be berated and diminished. But that was it now. “This vessel that we inhabit, we both attempted to ward it, to best of our individual ability, against foreign influences both physical and mental, a typical procedure really. But it was misjudged how strong our own influence really was and how strong these defences were that we created. In the end, it has recognized us both as foreign entities and now it is consuming us.”
“Wait, you mean… You are dying, right now?” Sunset said, completely baffled. The flames around her flickered out.
“No,” Ambition said. “and yes. We are separated from the pieces of your mind and soul that we held claim over, our energy is being siphoned away back into your own pool. Without both, we will fade away and stop being as we are. What I gained from you, your body will reintegrate and me with it. I will lose my current conscious and become a part of your mind one more. While she, she might either return through the portal to the elements or maybe just fade completely.”
“That is what had happened until now. Now it is complete, this is our last moment.” The agent of Harmony spoke somberly, eyes still cast downward.
“The sudden intake of raw energy that occurred only a day ago has proven final for us. With it, your body has undergone the rest of its changes, the last development has been completed, and with that it has finally driven us out from you.” Its skin started to glow. No, it dissolved into tiny pieces of light. Few at first, but then more and more, until there were uncountable little specks of light, like embers, seperating themselves from the agent of Harmony. Its face showed no pain or discomfort. But there was fear in those familiar eyes. If the entity could have, it would have cried.
As the agent just stood there, Sunset’s Ambition began walking towards its originator. As it did, its hair started to dissolve too. “It has begun long ago and now it is done.” It said.
Sunset stared at them. It was too much for her, too fast. She was becoming overwhelmed, did not know what to think, or how to feel. Her mind was slowly drowning in all the new memories that had been unleashed upon her. The void around her frayed and disappeared into a bright light at the edges. She knew this would all end soon and she would have to awake. And she could do nothing but watch as these two beings died in front of her. To be forever erased as they dissolved into clouds of floating lights, coloured crimson red and amber and like a rainbow, respectively.
If not for everything else, it would have been beautiful.
“Sunset. I-I am so sorry. For everything that I have caused you.” The hand the Agent of Harmony had reached out dissappeared into a cloud of lights that gently flew away into the ether. The feet followed soon after, as the pace seemed to pick up.
“Please! Don’t lose yourself, not aga-“
Then, it was gone.
The voice, so familiar now to Sunset’s regained memories, echoed like a death cry.
Ambition allowed itself one final tidbit of spiteful satisfaction as she saw her longtime enemy come apart first. Its own form was already halfway gone, the little embers floating directly towards its master.
Turning its face, Ambition looked plainly at Sunset. There was no emotion betrayed on its face, as there was none to show. Idly, Ambition wondered if it had already lost the capability to feel anything. Or maybe, that ‘feeling’ had been a lie from the very beginning.
No… there was something right now.
And even if it was just simulated, Sunset’s Ambition was content with its fate.
“I don’t want this. This is too much!” Sunset choked out.
“I know.” Ambition replied calmly.
“But you are free now. From me, her. You can follow yourself.” And just as before with its counterpart, Ambition could sense its own death accelerate. The last words of an old poem came to its mind from Sunset’s now freed memory stores. Smiling, Ambition lowered its dissolving torso and arms in a bow before its master.
“So, life continues its eternal helix. For at Dawn in Fire rises again, the Phoenix.”
She fell out of her bed as her body shot up suddenly. Everything was spinning around her; her eyes couldn’t find any spot to focus on. Her insides were loose, a single entire mess in her stomach, falling all over itself.
Everything was in flames around her. She could not hear anything.
So much…
It was painful. Flailing down on the ground trying to get herself together, even though her brain was in shambles and it felt more like she was tied to the ceiling. Progress was extremely slow, yet she was getting there-
“HUUERGH!”
Luckily, she could finally muster enough coordination-power and strength to push her face off the ground, thus keeping it away from the puddle of… whatever she had just barfed up. Then she did it again, and again, until it felt like all her insides had finally exited through her mouth out onto the floor and her throat was hoarse.
Just… too much!
She heaved, a raggard and unregular snapping for air. Her eyes blinked rapidly, as she tried to clear away whatever was clouding her vision.
After what felt like minutes, she looked around, now able to take in the room she had just woken up in. It was big, the floor carpeted and soft under her fingers. It was also empty, it felt empty to her. This was not her home. She had to find her way out, this was all simply wrong.
She tried to stand up, yet not even seconds later she crumbled backwards onto the floor again. Her body curled up as her mind was wracked by pain. Images of people and places flashed before her eyes, even as she squeeed them closed with all her might.
There was little sense that she could make out of what she saw, the only consistency was that she knew the people she saw in those flashes, yet their names al alluded her.
It was too scrambled, there was no sense in it, no order. It was too fast for her.
“T-too much!” She whimpered on the floor.
She wanted to will it to stop, to scream at her own head or at the thing causing all this. But her cries went unanswered and without effect. Eventually, through the haze, she managed to muster enough strength to start dragging herself towards what she assumed to be the door leading out of the room. All the while she was still screaming and begging in her own mind.
I don’t want this!
Just stop this already!
Her red fingers scratched against the wood as she pulled herself upwards on the door, reaching after the handle. Pulling herself to her own feet was a difficult task, yet she finally managed it after about a dozen tries.
Stepping out of the room, she let her own feet chose a direction and held one arm out to the wall as she made her first steps.
It seemed that with every ounce of pain that vanished, a part of her memory returned, placing itself somewhere in the massive puzzle that slowly took form inside her mind.
One step foward, one memory back. Again and again.
She was barely aware where exactly she was going, only conscious enough to brace one arm wherever she could to steady herself. At one point she had slowly stumbled down a set of stairs.
The pain was now bearable, enough to not blind her mind atleast. She was in the dinner room, right next to the kitchen; yes, she could remember this room now. This enitre house infact. Leaning against the table, she cupped her head between her hands to try and fight against her throbbing brain.
“Dawn? Is that you?”
Memories flocked to her, this time only few, brought to the front of her mind by the voice she heard. The voice of her roommate, her friend, Aria Blaze. The person who had taken her in out of sher coincidence, who she had lived with for a couple of weeks now.
Aria Blaze. Another student, of CHS, whom she had introduced. Who had two sisters.
Aria Blaze and her sisters. The manipulators, the instigators behind the Battle… of the Bands? Which they had almost won, but then, they had lost, somehow… There was something missing, she missed an aspect, a very great aspect of it.
She should feel relieved, her friend could help her, but instead she felt dread. They could not be friends, after all they had been enemies? It was too much, the memories were too much, she did not how to act. But she could hear the footfalls approaching, she had to act now.
There was no fire around her. The fact that she had to remind herself of this was pathetic in her own eyes. But it was also a sign of how bad the dreams could be.
Quietly she breathed in, then out, then in again.
The covers fell back onto the bed as Aria slowly and systematically raised her body into a sitting position, letting her long hair fall all around her face.
It wasn’t that the nightmares were so horrifying for her that she feared to sleep. What she saw she had dreamed times before. And she had witnessed more terrible things while awake.
No, what made them so unbearing was that they reminded her of what she had crossed an ocean for, what should have rightfully been left behind so far away. And she knew why that was, why these came back to her now. All those things she had seen, what she had done, she had been alone then, separated from her sisters.
She was now alone again. So those memories returned, no matter what she did.
But the worst was that she would see her sisters sometimes, but always horrifically brutalized. She knew of course that this was not possible. They were never there. They never had to experience such things. And it was not her own fault!
But everytime she saw them, she awoke, and she missed them dearly. Everytime.
Breath in. Breath out.
The all-consuming flames were new though. They had very suddenly consumed everything, bringing her out of the nightmare prematurely. Now that she thought about it, this was unprecedented. She wondered, if it could have some sort of meaning, after all… Just on a haunch, she reached her senses into the house.
She could hear someone downstairs, as well as…
Her neck prickled, making the hairs stand on end. Something had changed.
Immediately she left her bed and carefully stepped in the corridor. Stepping lightly, her ears perked and her guard up, she made her way downstairs. Indeed, she could feel a trail of magical energy going down the stairs.
A pulse swept through the building, only slightly disturbing a bit of dust; she could feel one figure, in the dinner room. They felt… familiar.
“Dawn? Is that you?” She could hear them moving, so she picked up speed as well.
The dinner room was empty, the only escape was the kitchen and that one was a dead end. Slowing down again, Aria was careful in her approach. Upon reaching the entrance she threw a look inside and saw her. It was indeed Dawn. She seemed to be shaking.
“Hey, Dawn.” She began softly. “Couldn’t sleep well?”
The red girl turned. The look on her face was frantic, as if she were hunted. Her right arm was away from Aria, stiff and pressed against her own body, while the left one held it tight.
“D-Don’t come closer!” She spat out shakily.
Aria raised her hands in a calming gesture. She knew how she had to diffuse this, even though a part of her did not like it a lot.
“Please, relax. I am not going hurt you. You’re very on edge right now, you just need to calm a bit and get yourself collected.” She hummed carefully. It seemed to work. Dawn’s muscles slowly lost their tension, so Aria cautiously stepped a bit closer.
“There, you’re getting better already. Nothing here wants to harm you, Dawn.” Again she got closer. “Did you have a nightmare?”
Through Aria’s soft voice, Dawn’s eye cought something. Just a little glimmer, hidden underneath the fuchsia girl’s loose pyjama shirt. It shone… crimson red… a gem.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as memories became clearer.
Of crimson red and laughter, the desire to control, to be the center… of admiration.
Of gems, three in count, in perfect harmony. Of three sisters. Three monsters.
Canterlot High School, between winter and fall. A contest of music. She… had sung herself. But there were also others. And there was Aria.
Aria Blaze and her sisters, who used their songs to spread conflict. She could remember now.
Aria Blaze, the manipulator. The singer.
Aria Blaze. The siren.
Sunset was suddenly very aware. And only so could she have noticed the low humming. She had never seen the other girl’s, monster’s, lips even trembling. But she could hear it now.
She could feel it now. How it wormed itself into her mind. How the gem seemed to slightly, just ever so slightly, pulse in rythm with the hum.
“NO!” She snarled. She would never be controlled by her, by anyone.
“Dawn? What’s wrong?”
Aria did not know what had happened. There was just a swift blurry of movement.
Then the pain started. Something went trickled down her throat, something warm. It was an old feeling.
She could see the blade now, as everything around was suddenly sharper. Dawn held it in her right hand, blood, her blood, trickled down its edge. The girl had a frantic, if not aggressive expression. Already she lifted her arm for another strike.
This time though it missed, as Aria had already launched herself backwards. She had not been on guard enough, had not expected something like this. For a long time, she did not have to fight for her life. Never would she have thought that Dawn could simply break through her soothing voice and the power behind it.
But now, it all came back to her again.
Dawn surged forward, stabbing with her kitchen knife at Aria’s abdomen. It was a wild attack, no thought behind it and training, but its strength and the crazed determination still made it lethal. The red girl had not even made it half the way before Aria acted.
She dove to her left, faster than her opponent could even realize, and then she launched herself at Dawn. The knife arm was pressed inwards against the torso of its wielder, the blade safely pointing away from its intended target.
Aria moved behind Dawn, her left hand reaching out and gripping the other’s right. Now the hand and thus the knife were held in a vice grip, while Aria’s one right arm wrapped itself around the red girl’s throat.
“Stop this now!” Aria grumbled through both, the sudden exertion, and the pain from her own throat. If it were fatal, she would already have noticed, or died, so she could ignore that for now. “Come to your senses Dawn. That is not what you want!”
Again, she let magic flow into her words and through them into the other’s ear. But this time, sublety was out of the window. This time she would need force.
Sunset could feel it, how the words tried to shut down her body and like before, it made her lash out. Her right hand was completely immobilized, so was her head, but her left was free. If her mind had not been so confused and whirled up, she would have been surprised by her own speed.
Changing the blade was a difficult action that resulted in cuts along her own fingers, but she did it and immediately tried to stab it into the side of the girl holding her.
Her captor saw the attack coming though. Twisting her stomach back, she allowed the knife to pass through air, before trying to pin it between both bodies. That opportunity was taken just a tick too late, as it already pulled out for another stab.
Aria let go with her own left hand made a grab for the girl’s new knife hand. While this would prevent more stabs, it did leave the right hand of the red-haired girl completely free again. A red fist subsequently hit her on the forehead, again and again.
She did not falter however, biting through the pain and bringing her head to Dawn’s left to hinder the other’s punches. Then she began to kick her legs against the stance of her opponent, attempting to bring them both to the ground.
To her benefit, Dawn was no experienced combatant, in any form as far as she knew. So, her tactic mostly resolved to attacking at any given opportunity. She had not the clearance of mind to act with purpose. Thus, she answered Aria’s kicks by struggeling against the former’s hold, bringing herself even more out of balance.
With a heavy thud, they both landed on the cold and hard kitchen floor. Immediately they wrestled for control, trying to literally get on top of the other. The struggle was tipping more and more in the fuchsia combatants favor.
But Dawn’s body was pumping itself full of more and more adrenaline, as well as activating other ressources. Straining her muscles, she was able to break her knife hand free of its grapple. Holding the arm across her throat with her own free hand, the blade swiped through the air. And then it swiped through skin, then flesh and blood. Again, and again, three and then four times it raked across Aria’s arm, before Dawn set it against the fuchsia wrist and drove the blade in.
The other girl had not been prepared for the sudden strike. Before she could pull her arm away, the blade bit into it. The effect was immediate. Aria could feel the blood leaving her limb and with it her strength. This was a critical wound; she wouldn’t hold out for long.
Aria threw her entire weight onto the sudden aggressor. Her only functioning hand grasping Dawn’s neck in an attempt to knock her out. Her strained vocal cords sprang into action and she started a forceful chant. The power behind her voice would suppress the victim’s mind, blocking them from controlling their body, until it too was overwhelmed and forced to slip into unconsciousness. Aria did not need that much of the effect to get away and tend to her wounds.
That would normally be the case. Maybe, she was losing her blood faster than calculated. Or Dawn was actually resisting the force of her voice again.
The enraged girl braced herself against the floor. In an act of raging strength, her limbs pressed and managed to lift herself and Aria on top of her off the ground. Then she threw herself to the left, twisting in the air. It had the desired effect.
The fuchsia girl took the impact on her left side, her good arm momentarily trapped under her own body. Then Dawn released the bloody and torn limb of her enemy and turned herself.
She pounced, pinning Aria beneath her; one knee pressing the other’s functioning arm permanently on the ground. Then, taking the knife into both hands, she drove it into the arm’s shoulder socket, directly into the middle.
Aria screamed. For the first time, her pain was given voice. Then she screamed again, when Dawn twisted the blade, before rippping it out and stabbing it right into the other shoulder.
“You! You will never get into my mind again, monster!” The red girl snarled, right into her face. Aria did not reply, she couldn’t. Her previous attempts had been draining and with her steady loss of both power and feeling, her body was broken.
That was not enough for Sunset. Two hands, crimson blood coating the red skin, reached forward and wrapped themselves around a purplish throat.
Her victim did not have near the strength to combat her hold. Soon, her lungs screamed for oxygen.
Weakly, one hand clawed against the iron-like grip.
“Never, fucking, again!”
Aria’s only functioning hand let go of the girl currently choking her to death. Instead it tried to press under her own shirt, searching for something.
Seconds seemingly stretched into agonizing minutes. Everything was blurring.
She had now completely lost any feeling in her right arm. Her left was moving sluggishly, the rest of her body did not have the strength to move.
Yet, her increasingly numb fingers finally touched warm crystal.
In her last act of willpower and self-preservation, Aria grasped her siren’s gem in her hand.
Then she pressed it into Dawn Fire’s hands.
For Dawn, everything suddenly went white.
-o0o-
She was standing, yet she was swimming.
Around her a sea, an ocean, inside of a crystal. Confined yet endless, with a void beyond.
Her head was expanding and pressing itself together simultaneously. Her newfound identity was rendered to nothing.
All around her were motes. Emotions and feelings, tunes and sounds, music and speech, it being given impossible form and held together by faint strings of green that danced to a tact she could not hear.
Inbetween were long strands of many wonderful colours. They too were connected to others by the green, no. They were the center, the link in a long chain of shapes from which all those motes spread apart.
It all danced around her. A never-ending stream. And she could sense it all. She was part of it all, in many ways, at different times, with different feelings.
And it was all connected with eachother, an ever-expanding web and she was connected to it. All those strands that were twisting and contorting, sometimes expanding and opening up. Then they showed pictures, frozen moments or moving images.
Memories.
Then it all rushed by her, or maybe she was moving. She could see how long the chain went, longer then she could see, longer then she could even think. And it was all still here, meticously kept in order. As if weaved and sorted by hand.
The mind of an immortal.
The strands, the chain, began circling around her, like a malmstrom. The space around her suddenly pulsed with a deep crimson.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
She could see the distant yet seemingly so nearby walls glimmer like crystalline walls. The green fog surrounded her, creating bonds that connected the great chain to her own body. She felt watched, yet she was alone?
No. Underneath her, she sensed it, felt it. Felt her, like a predator lurking beneath her in the deep water. A mind as sharp as rows of teeth. A will that could shatter mountains, sparing her own presence only with acception. A voice that could sway nations, dictate fate, that would lull the sun. A soul, born, forged and defined by the same things.
Dominance. Strife. Hunger.
Blood.
All channeled by a crimson crystal, beautiful and terrible.
The Heart of a Siren.
Then the showing began. Strands and motes swirled around, coalescing into a whirle of colours and sensations. She could feel, hear, sense and see what was before her.
The story of a life as long as millennia was shown to her in the matter of seconds.
She saw the beginning. The first careful and tender moments of live inside the safety of a hardened veil. Only for a descend into those base desires, as soon as the veil was broken and soon crimson consumed all. It only ended once three beats were left, starting the forming of a whole.
She saw destruction. An unholy union of three, Arrogance and Envy and Greed, bringing Armageddon and death to so many souls.
She saw the climax, the pacification of the ocean. Water filled with the blood of the guilty and innocent alike. Yet not the artists, the conductors of it all.
For them she saw a storm. The end of an era, as reality shifted and worlds changed.
She saw new land. New forms and new lives around.
She saw countless civilizations through countless ages rise and fall, she saw it all.
Then she saw, herself. Yet it was not her. It was, who she had been once.
She saw it all happen again. The hope, the rise for new power, for something that might actually matter. And then the fall, further then ever before. The breaking of the three immortal’s hearts
She saw the union, all three arguing, reconciling, then banding together like they always had. They worked towards a plan, gathering all they could.
She saw the three standing in a familiar room, furniture pushed aside to make room. A ritual. The broken hearts were in the center, everything was accounted for, as they began to chant, to complete the ritual and regain what was lost.
But she saw what happened. Had something been missing, was something overlooked? A mistake made, a part forgotten? None knew. She had to witness as the room was devastated, as the three had their souls torn, their bodies ripped bloody.
She saw them all on the ground as flames danced around them, heard their wet chokes as they could not breath through torn throats. She saw as Envy held Greed, desperately comforting a fellow monster, not wanting for either to part alone. She saw as Arrogance crawled towards them.
She saw the single beating heart in her palm.
She saw them argue without voice. Even as they wasted away, none wanted to take the life they had managed to create for themselves, even more if it meant to condem their sisters. In the end, Envy was the slowest to act, her fellows were faster and decided for her. It was the only time that Envy had fallen behind both of them, it would be the last time.
She saw as one life was given and two lifes ended.
She saw only feint images. White rooms, filled with white people talking without end. Envy alone in a bed, staring into the void, the heart, her heart, never far from her.
She saw familiar faces, four of them, siblings. She knew them.
She saw a meeting of chance that changed the way of the chain around her. As the siblings took her into their lifes.
She saw Envy moving on. Living in the home of her fellows alone, working and meeting those that had saved her from the sadness.
Finally, she saw Envy in a hospital again, talking with a girl with fiery hair.
-o0o-
Her breath was laboured, as if she had just run a marathon. Her eyes were blurry, she could only see a mix of colours in front of her. There was a ringing in her ears, sounds of sobbing, screams that only slowly faided away. Her hands were touching something, something cold.
She shook her head vehemently, trying to clear the feedback from her mind. When she opened her eyes, she could see again. And thus, she saw what she had done.
Her hands were still wrapped around the slashed throat of a fuchsia-skinned woman. Two hands with cruel wounds were bleeding a small sea around them, colouring the floor as well as long hair of purple and cyan a deep, all consuming red. Her eyes were closed.
“ARIA!” she screamed with a hoarse voice, releasing the tight grip on the other’s windpipe, instead trying to shake her awake. She whimpered as she feared for the worst, she prayed that the other could still be saved. She would do anything, she wanted to do anything to correct her mistakes.
But deep in her mind, she already knew that those wounds were fatal. There was too much blood around them.
“ARIA PLEASE! YOU CAN’T DIE!”
Her moves were frantic, her brain wrecked itself trying to find a solution, to recall the correct medical procedures. But in her panic, it all evaded her. Tears had already started to flow down her red cheeks.
“A-…a-aria?” Realization slowly fought its way through her mind. She had killed her only friend. Lifting the chest, she pressed herself into the other’s shoulder. Now she was crying uncontrollably.
Startled, her head flinched away. She had heard a weak, rhythmic thumping sound. Could it be?
Suddenly, two fuchsia hands surged forward, one grabbing at her own throat while the other held the right side of her face. A pair of eyes stared at her like two crimson lights. Then she felt pain.
It was like electricity filling her veines, tormenting her own body, while a terrible wail filled her ears and paralyzed her mind. She could feel her body weakening, sense how she was zapped of a strength inside herself. It could only have been a couple of seconds, yet it had felt so much longer. All of her limbs ached and she lost her balance as the two arms shoved her away.
As soon as she managed to regain her bearrings, she frantically looked towards the only one who could have done this, leftover pain mixing with a strange happieness.
Because indeed, the one she had thought murdered by her own hands was slowly rising up again. Her crimson eyes stared into her assailant as her abused vocal bands rasped:” You want another round, Dawn?”
She could only shake her head.
“Then don’t fucking sit there. Bathroom right next to the kitchen, in the cabinet are med-kits, bring them both. NOW!”
“I’ll be there in just a few minutes, okay?” Twilight said to her mother as she entered her lab. It was early in the morning, weekend. Like always, she would take a short and simple look-around her lab to make sure everything was in order.
She yawned again. Standing up for normal school days was no problem for her, usually anyways. But in weekends, she often tended to go to bed way later then she should. And the next day she always said she would stop that sort of thing. Which she never did.
A bit sluggishly, the young scientist began to check her equipement.
Good, the experiements from yesterday were moving along accordingly. She had done what the school had designated as homework three times already by herself. But where others would use that excuse to give themselves more free time, Twilight went along and recreated the same experiement for the forth time. She found it made a lot of sense to do that.
Not that anyone else shared that opinion. Or any of her thoughts really.
Moving on to her second, still ongoing experiement. Here too, everything in order, nothing to do but make a few small notes on the paper already laid out.
Her classmates, no, honestly the entire school, was just an endless source of impedement and frustration. Mainly because they seemed much more focused on taunting her then actually wanting to learn anything. She wished that she could just skip everything, attending this school, sports and group projects and focus on the important things.
It would be over soon, she told herself. She was already looking into her future ways forward. She just needed to keep up her effort and she would succeed. If everybody else was to dumb to prioritize, their fault. Problem was that they still had sway over Twilight actions, afterall she could barely defend herself verbally. Physical was out of the question.
The purple girl grumbled as she moved on to her sensory equipement. She hated it. She could do nothing against them. They were too strong, their ability to lie in front of the teachers too good to get them in actual trouble. She had tried a few times, in her earlier years. Success had been nonexistent and the torment afterwards only harsher.
She just wished she had the power to hold her own. Oh, if she did…
Twilight’s rapid head shaking caused her long hair to cover her eyes completely. Pushing away her dark thoughts before they had even a chance to manifest, she tried to focus her mind on the work before her. She was sure she could check her sensors while sleeping, which she may have even done already, but this always proved to relax her. Thinking about such things was… uncomfortable for her, no matter the little satisfaction she drew from her thought-play.
And, in a way, she was lucky to have focused her attention on the sensors, for her newest additions had picked up something again.
“So soon?” She spoke to herself. “The last occurrence had been only two days ago.”
But that was not the real shocker Twilight would experience today. For as she made her scans, her new-and-improvement equipement was able to point her in the direction of the surge of this strange new energy, as well as give her a rough distance-estimate. Pulling up a map of the city, Twilight worked for a few moments before, with a gasp, the reality settled in with her.
“This was in our neighbourhood!”
Indeed, beginning sometime last night the energy had been spiking drastically. Now excited, Twilight poured over her notes. The levels that her devices picked up matched that first flare that she had picked up, it had to be, her calculations were never wrong. This of course meant that she may meet whoever or whatever had caused this first event.
“No wait; this is in our neighbourhood! It is still ongoing!” The would-be scientist hovered between extrem joy and a sense of shock of being so close this. It would prove an A-class opportunity for her…
She had school today.
Twilight’s blood ran cold.
She had never missed school attendance. She had also never ditched it, never had she even dreamed of it.
What made things worse was that today she had to hand over the results of the experiement. Her own results were not that important, only to hold up her flawless record, but she had the homework for about a dozen other students! If she did not deliver, they would all seek revenge on her. She wouldn’t survive that. She had to go.
On the other hand… this was definitely a rare occurrence. For her scanners to pick up an emission of this new energy, in walking distance. She could find out so much. Evidence, in her reach.
Twilight had to be honest, she would gladly sacrifice her flawless reputation of attendance and done work for this. But, to anger all the students… she could not imagine what they would do to her for this. She would also have to go now to find the source. That would mean to lie to her parents which she also felt sick about.
She looked at her scanners. The detected energy surge was slowly going down.
It took Twilight three hundred and twenty-one seconds to gather her necessary equipement in her school bags, good thing that she kept them in her lab. Her school material was left in its staid. After eating breakfast as covertly as she could make it fast, the purple girl immediately left her home and began walking, her hand scanner guiding her forward.
Her stomach slowly filled with dread as she marched on. But there was no turning back now.
Under Aria’s guidance, Dawn quickly bandaged both of her arms, wrists, hands, as well as her throat. New tears had started to creep out of the confused girl’s eyes as she covered the wounds she had inflicted, and though she looked like it, Aria could not or did not want to make a harsh remark on them. Indeed, even after the work was done, she said nothing.
So, they just sat in silence, a few tiles away from the slowly drying blood puddle. The only sound made between them were the laboured breaths both made for different reasons. Aria had her eyes closed, carefully measuring every intake of air and every little movement from her body. Her skin had become increasingly ashen and only now it seemed to return to its original tone. Her limbs, especially her arms, were weak from the bloodloss and she had trouble thinking after the oxygen-deprivation and the stress of fighting for her life.
Dawn on the other hand was struggling not with her body but with the crushing guilt of her actions. She had almost killed her friend, murdered brutally in an act of manic bloodlust. Other than that, she also had to sort through all the memories that had been stirred up in her own mind. The fragments of abstract visions that she had seen when the gem had touched her hand, her supressed memories of her former live and how all this came together with who she was now.
She was feeling so lost.
“Aria? I… I am so, so sorry. I just… It…” Her voice struggled to maintain itself. How was she supposed to explain all this, she could not think of it.
“Aria? Are you still alright?” She asked again.
The other girl just breathed. Then, her eyes opened. Still, they were a piercing crimson, much like the gem that now sat openly around her neck. “Eh, I’m alive. Have to admit, your strength is not bad. But how about you start explaining why you suddenly decided to try and fucking kill me, just so out of the blue?”
She winced at that, truth to be told she was unsure herself. Her mind was still clearing up the influx of memories and sensations. It took a couple of minutes before she was able to formulate an answer.
“I panicked.”
Aria raised a single eyebrow. “Panicked?”
“Not like that. I… When I heard you… I was confused, my mind was just… completely… I don’t know how to explain it. But I knew, instinctively, that you were different or dangerous. Somehow.”
“Uh-huh.” The fuchsia girl nodded weakly. “And why was that.”
She swallowed to clear her mouth, there was no reason in hiding it. “I remembered things, Aria.”
“Shit.” Dawn could not determine Aria’s expression, was she relieved or unhappy with this? “And how much do you remember?” She asked.
“A lot. Maybe everything, I don’t know yet. Who I was, what I was. And I remembered what you are, Aria. I… I am so sorry, for so many things.”
There was a pause, wherein their breathing was once again the only source of sound. A few fresh tears were slowly trickling down Dawn’s face, she did not bother to wipe them away.
“Alright,” It was Aria who broke the silence between them. “Let’s just take it easy. Tell me what you remember.”
As the red girl gave her confused, and depressed, look, Aria made a hand motion with her hand. “Just humour me with this.” She sounded extremely tired.
Dawn breathed in. Then out again.
“My name is… was Sunset Shimmer. I am not from this world; I came here from the lands of Equestria. I had been the personal student of the sole ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia Solaris, until I left her. On this side, I was at a Highschool. I… had a few friends there. Then, there was an incident. And something inside of me changed. I remember that I broke down, was brought to a hospital, but I didn’t make it there.”
Aria had slowly nodded along with her eyes closed, leaning back against the sofa. Opening them again she said: “I know only about half of what you just said, so I’m going to trust you on this. Most of the rest I already figured out. Now, don’t stop, who am I?”
“Your name is Aria Blaze, as far as I know. You were part of a band, The Dazzlings, alongside your two sisters. You are also from Equestria. You are a Siren, an ancient creature that lives of off the strife it causes.” Dawn recounted from her returning memories.
“Correct. Although we nurish ourselves mainly on some form of energy, all the strife just helps to bring it out for us, as a side effect of sorts.” The ancient creature explained, even though she felt miserable, a predatory grin showed her pride of being recognized by her true nature.
“Now, what, do you think, is this?” She said and held up her gem.
This time Dawn had to think more before speaking. Memories containing knowledge came forth in her mind, but also what she had herself experienced just now.
“It is a Siren’s gem. It is important for you, acts like a focus for your power. Maybe an absorber and storage for all the energy?”
“We call it our heart. And, so as to not lecture you, it does what you just said and more. But that stuff is not important right now.”
Dawn nodded. “When you pressed it into my hands, something happened with me. I saw… moments, of your life, I think. Your banishement. The Battle of the Bands, again. What you attempted after, how-“
“Yeah look, I really don’t want to hear that right now.” Aria interrupted her. “So, it seems we are on more or less the same page.”
“What do we do now? Should we go to a hospital, or-“
“No.” Again, Dawn was interrupted. “Trust me, they are going to ask questions and I don’t feel like I could effectively handle that. As for, what we do now.” With great exertion, she heaved herself off the floor and onto the sofa.
“I just have to rest some. It’s gonna take a while to regain myself so far that I can function properly. You should do the same. After all, I siphoned the magic energy directly from you to survive this. Best to take a sleep. Calm down, reorder your mind and, as long as you don’t try and kill me again, we’ll be fine.”
There wasn’t much that Dawn could really say against that. Instead of also climbing onto the sofa though, she just laid down on the carpet next to it. Already, she could feel her body starting to shut down and drift into sleep.
“Things are going to be fine.” It wasn’t a very convincing thought. But for her it was a start.
It was the sound of ceramic hitting the ground and shattering into pieces that brought Dawn out of her sleep. Lying on the ground, it took her a moment before her sense of balance and orientation came back to her. When it did, she looked around to the couch she had slept next to. Aria was not there anymore.
As well as she could manage, Dawn stood up and walked the few steps to the kitchen entrance, where she was certain the noise had been coming from. And she was proven correct.
There were lots of shards lying on the ground, as it seemed they had once been a bowl and some sort of glass. Aria was also there, something that gave Dawn a shot of relief, as well as a heap of worry.
The fuchsia girl was shakingly holding herself on the counter as she stared at the mess she had made. Her bandages had a few dried blood stains that Dawn didn’t remember, and her face still lacked much of its original colourful strength. However, her irises still shone in that cold crimson.
“Aria? What are doing?” She asked.
“I uh-“ Aria replied sheepishly as she tried to hold her own weight on her weakened limbs. “I wanted to get myself a drink, maybe something to eat, got a bit peckish y’know? Turns out I gravely underestimated my own strength at this point and lost my grip, so yeaah…”
As if to underline the problem, one of Aria’s arms slipped on the counter, causing her almost lose her balance and hiss as the bandaged areas hit the hard countertop.
“Uhm… Little help here?” The fuchsia girl asked, somewhat embarassed.
Carefully, Dawn manouvered between the shards on the ground to her. Drapping one arm over her own shoulder she helped Aria back to the couches they had slept on and sat her down carefully. Sitting herself down on the ground again, both girls took a short breather before Dawn spoke up.
“Aria, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“What happened with your eyes?” Dawn pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. “I mean, because I distinctly remember that they were purple before and they were purple all the time in the last few weeks. But since… yesterday, they are crimson, and you don’t really seem to be bothered by it. Is that something that has happened before?”
“Oh, that.” Aria chuckled. “At this point that is rather normal for me. You saw in my head the shitshow that my sisters and me managed to fuck up right? The ritual, I mean.”
Dawn nodded carefully, slightly disturbed at the choice of words that the girl had used. Everything she had experienced then still felt strange and unreal to her, yet she could always recall exactly what she had seen.
“Yeah. To give some context, Dagi wanted to do an ancient ritual of sorts to fix the remains of our gems into new ones. We gathered everything that she needed, atleast as similar as we could manage in this world, and then we tried it. I don’t know what we fucked up, or who did it but… you saw what the result was. Thing is, we actually created one functional gem.”
Aria sighed, her fingers playing clumsily with the gleaming crystal around her own neck. Her crimson eyes started to lose focus as she stared into nothing, an actual sad look on creeping onto her face.“I am actually a bit afraid sometimes, that we succeeded as was planned and it was necessary for them to die. That all this was simply because we didn’t know the full extent of the ritual.”
She shook herself. “Anyway, I’m drifting off. The eyes were like this the moment I woke up. I can only change them with a little magic. Fortunately, I am not that bad at illusions.”
“And you did it because I was here?” Dawn asked.
Aria had to think for a moment how she sould explain this to her friend. “Yeah. At first it was just because of happenstance. I mean, I always change it when I go to Steel Rain’s or when I meet with Lime and Marble. Actually, I have it changed everytime I go outside, just in case I meet someone I know. Just to be careful, you know? Doesn’t really take a lot of effort anyway.”
Dawn looked at her face in understanding. Though she knew there was more to it than just consistency, Aria couldn’t or simply didn’t hold up her unreadable façade so it was a bit easier to pick up this sort of thing. However, the girl was still partially stuck in the mindset of letting Aria explain things when she wanted.
“But that is not the entire reason, is it?” Though only partially.
“Nah, there was something else.” Aria said, seemingly not caring about the unusual prodding of her roommate. “In the beginning I just had this feeling. That there was something different about you.”
“Which was why you decided to hide one of the things that I might recognize to be wrong with you. And you quickly figured out that you were correct in your assessment, didn’t you?” Dawn said plainly.
“Not really. I just had a haunch. But with time I did the little effort to read the news, lined up the dates and thought for a bit. And then I had, in hindsight atleast, a rather good picture of what had happened. Though there was not really much in the case of evidence, it all just seemed too timely and convinient to be totally unrelated.” Aria replied.
“Do you think anyone else has caught onto that?” Dawn asked, suddenly she was afraid. She was not ready to talk with her former friends.
“Honestly, I don’t think so. I mean, your appearance has changed well enough so that people won’t recognize you by just looking. Sure, the hair and maybe the eyes are similar, but that sort of thing only really jumps out when you actively think about it, believe me on that. And you met some of your old idiot-band, if they did not recognize you, nobody will.” Aria replied casually, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. Then she stopped and became serious. “Though… Pinkie-“
“Pinkie knows?” Cold dread wormed its way up Dawn’s spine. She shouldn’t have a reason to fear the cheerful girl, yet she could not help it.
“Yeah, look.” Aria said, clasping her hands together. “I got a bit more acquainted with her, thanks to her sisters helping me and all that. I don’t know if you remember noticing it before, but she is far more observant and smarter then probably everybody gives her credit. I would not put it past her in any way to have known everything from the start. Or that she figured out things along the way like I did.”
“But she doesn’t have your senses. And she knows less about the details of my… reincarnation, I guess.” Dawn mumbled about. She was picturing the energetic girl barging into the house, the rest of the band behind her, cheerfully proclaiming a ‘Happy-New-Life-that-you-kept-hidden-from-us’ party.
“Just saying. Never underestimate this girl.” Aria said ominously. Then she added: ”I think she also has your journal; we may have to do something about that.”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I think it might be more trouble.” Dawn mumbled as she pulled her knees to her chest.
Aria shrugged. “Depending on how we try and take it from her. And while we’re already on that topic, I think it’d be better to take a straightfoward approach rather than try and be sublte about it. She might just give it to us if we ask nicely. Maybe I can bribe her with something?”
“It is not that.” Dawn shook her head. “I used the journal to communicate with Princess T-Twilight. I don’t know how much she is writing with Pinkie, but the risk of her noticing a change is too high. She could cross the portal and…”
Aria arched an eyebrow at that. Interesting that the book was a device of communication; in her theory it had varried between little more then a treasure trove of spells, arcane calculations and concepts, or it was a simple diary.
“And what matter is it if she comes?” She asked, flopping onto her belly so that her face was closer to the other magical creature.
“Wha- You… We are talking about PRINCESS Twilight Sparkle here. The element of MAGIC!” Dawn sputtered out, completely thrown off by the casual phrase.
The other girl simply frowned. “What is she gonna do? You are her former friend and ally, ressurected after death both by means inexplainable.”
She stopped for a moment. “Oh yeah, remind me to pester you into explaining everything in detail so that I know what the fuck actually happened here. Anyway, I doubt lil miss sparkly perfect will have many if any reasons to oppose you. I’d bet money she would be rather happy to see you return, somewhat atleast.”
“What about you?”
“Me?” The fuchsia skinned siren smirked and chuckled as she spoke. “Well, she just gotta suck it up that one of her enemies helped one of her friends. Ah, just imagine the look on her face when she realizes that she would have to be sorry to me! And maybe even thank me.”
Dawn gave up on trying to understand her friend’s complete and utter lack of worry over an Equestrian Princess. In a way, this attitude was atleast calming her immediate panic. She just had to have a little bit of confidence in them both and things would be alright. Somewhat.
Glancing at the clock, the two girls realized that it was now early in the morning. Aria for one was also reminded why she had stood up in the first place, as her stomach started to protest a lack of food.
However, her own efforts to leave the couch were swiftly thwarted by her red roommate. “Aria, please. Just stay here, alright? I will get something.”
She could have argued. But she didn’t, mainly because the other person was already walking away.
It took Dawn about half an hour of cleaning up and preparing before she stepped out of the kitchen again, in her hands a tray with a fast and simple breakfast. Mostly just bread and butter, alongside water.
“Come on, what’s with the face? Thinking of taking advantage and hogging the breakfast for yourself?” Aria joked with half-closed eyes and a sarcastic smirk on her face, still lying on her stomach.
“No.”
“Suit yourself then.” She shrugged and carefully began the process of sitting up without straining her arms. Too much atleast.
Slowly they began to eat. Dawn weighed down by her own mind and Aria by her injuires.
“I was just thinking how strange this all is.” Dawn said after a while, stabbing the dull tip of her knife into the bread. “Only about three weeks ago, you made breakfast for us for the first time. And everything was so different then. I had no idea who I was…”
Aria nodded. “Yeah. You were really curious, almost all the time. It was kinda innocent in a way. Pity that that is gone now.”
“Yes. Back then I had also not tried to kill anyone. Actively atleast.” Her eyes were transfixed on the metal in her hands. Carefully setting it and her plate aside, she hugged her knees and leaned back against the couch.
“Hey.” Aria also stopped her slow eating process to place a hand on the shoulder of her friend. “It is alright. I am not holding anything against you.”
Their eyes met again. There were already the first signs of tears forming in Dawn’s eyes.
“Why? Why are you so relaxed about that? For fuck’s sake, Aria, I tried to kill you, I wanted to kill you. I almost did. Nevermind about the fact that I am practically responsible for the death of your sisters. How can you be so fucking calm about this?”
“Alright, first I gotta admit that it is weird hearing you swear. Second. Yes, you got pretty close to killing me, but you were not the first one. Not by a longshot. Thirdly…” Even though her arms were still hurting, and her muscles , Aria managed to pull the teary girl up and next to her on the coach. “I kinda understand why you tried it, enough that I know you wouldn’t do it normally. In your position, I would have done the same. I know that you were not yourself and- Hey!”
One hand cupped the red face, preventing it from turning away and forcing the two pairs of eyes to meet again, only inches apart. The other hand was on Dawn’s shoulder, where it was soon in turn held by a red-skinned one.
“Believe me here Dawn. I know enough about magic to take a guess on what went on inside you, enough to get why everything happened yesterday the way it did. And I already had time to come to terms with the fate of my sisters.”
Her hand squeezed the others. Guiding her friend’s head forwards, their foreheads were touching. “But most importantly, I don’t want to cut you off because of this. We’re in this together alright?”
“Ok.” Dawn just replied.
So, they held each other. Eventually their heads seperated only for their eyes to meet.
Dawn smiled and then, she couldn’t supress but giggle slightly. Everything was just absurd. Things had changed so fast, it felt almost like a bad story, but she was pretty sure that it was actually real. Her life.
Not minding the sad, maybe even slightly cynical undertone she felt in her friends giggling, Aria joined in with her own, genuine chuckle. The two former enemies laid back right next to each other and looked at the ceiling above them, enjoying the moment where they were just laughing over the madness of their lifes.
“Heh. I wonder what my sisters would think of me now, if they could hear me talking.” The purple siren said out loud into the air, sounding incredibly amused by the thought.
“You think they would understand?” Dawn wondered.
“Maybe.” Aria said. Then she thought for a moment. “Actually no. Sonata would, maybe. Adagio though? Nah, ‘Dagi would yell about how stupid I am, then she’d start a hissing fit. Sometimes she’d quite literally hiss like a snake. Then she would go upstairs for about half an hour and throw a temper tantrum. And then she would probably find the nearest party and try and destroy as many relationships as possible. Maybe even get someone into her bed.”
Almost dreamy, Aria closed her eyes. “Yeah, we were really terrible people.” It sounded more like she was reminiscing about the good old times, and not talking about her sister acting like a black widow.
“Anyway,” Aria said, turning her eyes onto her red friend. “since we are already thinking about the past and being sad about it and being comforting around each other; you’re ok to tell the story behind all this? Whatever you know atleast.”
She was right in that. It was best to get it all out now, when the morning was already stained by the dark thoughts of her guilt and tears. And once Dawn overcame the trepidation of laying bare the truth she had learned, it all flowed out. She filled Aria in on everything, ever since she crossed the portal.
The years at CHS spent putting a school under her thumb through intrigue and deception and blackmail. How she played friends against each other and crushed any resistance. If she were paying more attention, she might have glanced a bit of respect and a weirdly prideful smirk flashing over Aria’s face.
Dawn also recounted in greater detail the happenstance at the Fall Formal, climaxing in her transformation to a demon and the following purification. Her friend only interrupted to confirm that this was the catalyst that drew the Dazzlings to the school.
There were only few things that Dawn mentioned from the time up to and including the Battle of the Bands, since they both knew what had happened. After that, Dawn briefly explained what had transpired with Anon-A-Miss on the loose.
It was when she got to the day it had all happened that she started to waver. The images intensified before her inner eyes. She could almost see them all as if she was back in there, on that one bad day.
The corridors, filled with students casting their hate onto her. Fluttershy and Rarity, the only ones actually wanting to help her, trying to get her to relative safety.
How she had snapped at them and then snapped inside. How she had fallen to the ground and everything went red.
She told all this to Aria. And she told everything she knew now, how the events had been caused by the two influences in her body fighting over dominion. She continued, telling how she had gotten brought to the hospital.
And she recounted word for word what had happened on the bridge, the reaction that destroyed the vehicle and flung her into the water. That was how far she got before she choked up. New tears began to form again, her hands were shaking.
“I-It was my fault, all those people. Aria, I killed them!” She whispered, trying to wipe her tears away. Aria was faster than her though, swiping them clean swiftly even with her injured limbs.
“Its ok, Dawn-“
“But it isn’t! How can it be alright? I… everything I did… And now… your Sisters… people are dead because of me!” Dawn yelled at her.
“Dawn! You are… I know how it sounds but you need to calm down right now. Just stop thinking over this for a moment and listen to me, alright?” Aria responded with no less strength in her own voice, placing a hand on the others shoulder. With a dry grin she added “And maybe don’t stab me this time.”
A grin that swiftly disappeared as the red girl broke out into new tears, letting her eyes drop down to the floor in shame. “I… Aria-I I’m so sorry, I nearly k-killed you!”
“Shhh. You didn’t. I’m here, aren’t I? That was just a poor attempt at a joke. I’m sorry about that.” The crying girl in front of her opened her mouth to respond, yet she did not have the chance. Aria swept her in a hug, wrapping her weakened arms around the shaking form of her friend and holding her as tight as she could.“ Everything is fine. Just concentrate on my voice, okay?”
And then Aria began to sing again. It was similar to the way that she had sung at the restaurant, though this time she focused to calm the being in her arms.
It was not entirely an unfamiliar thing for the siren, to use her voice in genuine to help someone in emotional need. But it had happened rare enough for this to be foreign and slightly uncomfortable terrain for her. Nevertheless, she did it. And, weirdly, it felt good.
How long they sat like this on the ground, she could not tell. Time was irrelevant for the two girls embracing eachother, the only thing that mattered was the comfort and the soft voices singing a wordless melody.
At one point, Dawn’s tears had ceased, and her eyes dried up.
At one point, the tears had come from Aria.
And finally, the last note faided out and plunged the room into silence again.
“Aria?” The red girl mumbled into the shoulder of the one holding her.
“Hm? What is it did?” Came the similarly muffled reply.
“I just realized; we’re hugging.” The red one remarked sheepishly, though a heavliy contetent look mulled her face.
“Well great,” the fuchsia girl replied, her usual snark sorely lacking any strength behind itself. “want to throw a party for that?”
“Nah, not really.” Dawn pressed her face deeper into the neck. She didn’t want this to stop. She really wished that time would just halt and not move forward until she could. All these things, how she was supposed to manage them she could not fathom.
“Hey, Aria?”
“Hm?”
“Thank you.” She whispered, closing her eyes and hugging her friend as close as she could. “For everything.”
Aria just chuckled. “Thank you too.”
They remained like this for several more minutes. The rest of the breakfast sat there, forgotten. It seemed both girls had silently agreed that neither of them really wanted to eat more at this point. However, even this wonderful new thing had come to an end for one reason or another.
“Come on. Let’s get you to bed, you need to catch up on some more sleep.” Dawn groaned and did her best to protest against the disruption of their current position but to no avail. Aria more or less pulled her to her feet, even though it was difficult for her as well, and not just because her arms were still weak.
“Yeah, I know. Now get a move on, I do not want to drag you all the way.”
Dawn complied, even so she could just lay down again. The stairs proved to be a hinderance at first, but combined effort saw them standing before the red girl’s assigned bedroom. One look inside however…
“…Yeeeah, no. Ew. We’ll take mine. Remind me to clean that up later. And the blood downstairs.”
They ended up cleaning it then and there, after Aria remembered that you should probably not give vomit any more time than necessary to work itself into soft fabric. Atleast not if you want to keep the padding on the floor as it had been. Fortunately, it didn’t take very long for the two of them.
So, few minutes later, Aria was ready to tug her friend into her own bed. However, as she made to leave, Dawn swiftly grabbed her hand and tugged her to the bed.
Aria wanted to resist, and she did at first. She wanted to say how she wanted to clean up her mess and then do body excercises after that. She wanted to claim that she felt strong enough now and that she should start soon on rebuilding her strength and getting a feel for her body again.
But right now? She was tired.
And the bed was very soft, she could attest to that.
And she would share it with someone. It had been too long since she did that.
Ah to Tartarus with all that. She thought. Climbing next to Dawn, the two of them fell asleep very fast. Soon, in their sleep, they instinctively snuggled up next to eachother.
She had pushed the thoughts about the consequences for what she was still doing away about thirty-six minutes ago. It had become pointless, reminding herself every few moments of all the things that she would have to endure.
Instead, Twilight had locked her mind on tracking the signal as best she could. She got closer with every step, narrowing down the possible location from the whole district, to a few streets to a block of houses. And the faster the signal blinked, indicating how close she was getting, the faster her own heart was beating.
However, another thing had popped into her mind. If this new source was on someone’s property, then she might have to enter without permission. Afterall, who would willingly let someone like her in?
She could get in all sorts of trouble, nevermind the fact that Twilight was afraid of what possible dangers she could stumble upon in houses she didn’t know anything about.
Then why was she still walking towards the signal?
This was something that Twilight could not logically explain. What she did was foolish, stupid, and more than risky.
But it was also her chance. If she succeeded here, she could not imagine the lengths this would give her in her work.
Maybe she could preemptively leave school. Apply for universities, walk away from the wretched hell that she cursed in the night. If she got caught, if something happened to her…
…well not a lot of people would miss her.
That particular thought was something of a for the young scientist. It was a terrible thing to think, she knew she should not indulge in even entertaining the notion. However, it was true, atleast from her point of view.
She had explained the situation that she faced at school to both Dean Cadance and her parents. And both had said that they would help, and yet nothing had changed. The other students always talked themselves out of trouble or leveraged the inlfuence of their own parents.
Twilight was sure that her parents still thought it resolved. It wasn’t. She was still haunted by everyone who cared to notice her. By this point she could maybe even dare to think that she had endured every different method of bullying atleast once. And in all that time, not once had someone even attempted to help her. Not once, not even in passing. She was pretty sure that at this point someone could stab her, and everybody would leave her where she lay. And if that wasn’t true, it might be after this day.
The student stopped. The origin of the energy was close, close enough that the big house in front of her had to be the center. The only thing seperating her now was a steel bar fence with a gate that wasn’t locked, a bit of flat grass and atleast one house wall.
She breathed deeply once and once again. Then she entered.
I will die here. Twilight was not really someone who just curled into a ball and gave up. But she was exhausted, trapped, and honest enough to acknowledge this and thusly resign herself to her fate. I will die in this house.
She was cornered in, what atleast looked like, a training area.
Getting inside was difficult but not nearly as much as she would have thought. If it had been, she might have just given up. That would have been for the better.
But alas, a window at the back, right next to the back door had been leaned open. Just enough for her to bring in her slender arm and an improvised tool to assist in grabbing the handle. Painfully it had been to twist and stretch, but the glass door had finally opened for her.
“I rang three times already, so no one should be home. Besides, this is just a little peak.” She reassured herself. It felt wrong but curiosity had her firmly gripped.
Stepping inside, clutching the beeping sensor, she carefully pressed on. Walking from what appeared to be a living room to the lobby with the front door, Twilight was more and more lost in the old and rich enviroment. All the paintings, all the assorted and displayed items, so much information! Still, she was focused enough to follow her device, going into the direction where the energy readings were increasing. She was, however, not focused enough to see that she was not alone anymore.
She shrieked as a knife had buried itself right next to her head, missing her only by a couple of inches. The shock made her lose her own footing, making her feet trip over eachother and sending her to the floor. Luckily, her glasses stayed more or less on her nose, leaving her able to orient herself. As well as looking at her assailant.
She wished she had lost them.
It was like in a horror story. The two eyes, unholy and bloodthirsty, staring themselves from the way she had come into her head with pure contempt.
The slender, nimble fingers held another knife, which they manipulated with terrifying ease. The feet were bare, making no sound on the floor as the woman advanced, looming over Twilight.
Scared and with adrenaline pumping through her body, the girl left everything she had carried where it had fallen and scrambled to her own feet. She did not know where to go, but in her panicked mind she tried to dart towards the main door.
Yet just as she reached out for the handle, more blades digged themselves into the thick wood. One just barely cut her hand that had meant to open her escape path before stabbing into the door.
Whirling around, she could see the hunter down the entry room, her hands holding about half a dozen more of lethal metal to throw. And Twilight knew that her aim was good. Until now she had survived out of sheer luck.
She also knew that the front was a dead end. She would never been able to get out in time.
The young scientist had somehow managed to dodge by her assailant and run deeper into the building. If she had to guess, only because the hunter wanted to play with her. Or she did not want to kill right where people would enter, out of convinience. Probably both.
The ensuing hunt had been short and fruitlessly. Now that she did not have to run, Twilight was cursing herself. She had been practically guided down here. Thrown blades had always succeeded in dissuading her from taking a path that the owner did not want her to take.
And thus, she was here: In the basement, far away from any escape. No one would hear her scream from down here. Nobody even knew she was here in the first place.
Here she was, a dead girl. And there was the hunter. Blocking the only exit. At some point Twilight had lost her glasses and so the figure was blurry and unrecognizable.
Her mind, usually so genius and creative, was only able to imagine all the terrible things that would happen to her down here.
“ARIA, DON’T!” The scream suddenly echoed through the house as both could hear footsteps approaching, hunter and prey almost equally surprised by this sudden intervention though for different reasons.
Barreling down the stairs came a young woman clad in a weirdly childish-looking pyjama. Her hair moved like flames, though it was also heavily frazzled as if she had woken up but five minutes ago.
Even though her incoming had potentially saved Twilight’s live, for the moment, it did nothing to ease the tension in her body. Her brain was too high on adrenaline to even ponder the meanings of this new development, as her temporary savior struggled to get her breath at the bottom of the stairs.
“This… this is not this world’s… Twilight!” She brought out between laboured huffs, her eyes pleadingly locking with the crimson orbs of the hunter.
Aria just plainly stared back at her friend. “…Well, duh! Rather obvious.”
“W… What?!” was all that Dawn could bring out.
“I mean, come on!” Aria fully turned towards her. “Would Miss Princess even try and enter through the back like a thief? If this’d be her, she would stand at our front door ahead of her oh so precious friend brigade. This one didn’t even recognize me, never said one word!”
“Well… you threw knives at her! I thought you would…” Dawn countered. Then, however, she had to pause herself as her mind actually started to work out all the facts. “Though… Princess Twilight should… maybe be able to use her magic?”
Aria just smirked. “See? This is definitely not the Princess.”
“Yes… Wait, no, that is not the point!” Dawn shouted. “You’re still trying to kill someone!”
“Oh relax, I’m just…” Turning around, knive-hand already preparing for the throw, both girls were completely thrown off as the subject of their argument barreled past them. The purple-skinned amatur-intruder tried to shove Aria to the ground as she sprinted past her, though that did nothing more than making the Siren take a step back. Dawn herself instinctively jumped out of the way, letting Twilight take the stairs upwards.
It was already too late for another throw, so Aria let her knife down again.
“Huh. Not bad for a nerd.” Then she started to follow her. Slowly, making a gentle walk instead of the mad dash her prey was doing.
Upstairs, Twilight was desperately trying to find a way out, which proved difficult without her glasses. She had tried to flee out of the back door, which had proven nigh impossible as she quickly realized that she couldn’t find the back with her current eye-capability.
Next, she was running through rooms, seeking a window big enough for her to squeeze through. Adrenaline was still flooding her veins. Her heart was pounding like drums in her ears, making it extremely difficult to listen for her pursuers’ footsteps. If they even made those. They were able to follow her with little to no sound, like a vengeful ghost stalking her.
Twilight wasn’t even sure that her pursuer was still behind her, she would have to look to check. Though, no new knives had flown past her since she ran from the basement again.
Her heart jumped inside her as she finally came beside a window large enough for her to use. Erratically, her fingers pried at the handle to open it, Twilight’s adrenaline-pumped body working against her as she could not hold her fingers still for long enough to make her escape quick and coordinated.
Too much time was lost by clumsily opening the glassen barrier. Behind her, unbeknownst to the scientist-turned-intruder, the Siren of the house approached.
Aria for her part just took in the sight before her. It was amusing, just as the entire hunt had been, atleast for her. This was rather easy. Some would even consider it unfair. Mayhaps it was.
Not that she cared for that, a girl had her needs and her’s had been satisfied by the thrill of hunting this student. Now it was time to end the game. Even still, out of pure wickedness she set her foot loudly on the floor to announce her presence. The effect was just to her liking.
Twilight immediately snapped her head back, her eyes staring wide and scared into the crimson orbs only a few feet away. Scrambling to get away, she yanked open the window and tried to climb out of it.
But it was… sad really, and pathetic. Aria could simply stroll right up to the girl, only now halfway towards safety and freedom but seemingly stuck on something. Her breathing was fast and erratic, mixed with whimpers and pleas.
Then, an arm looped around Twilights belly and pulled. The girl shrieked, trying her best yet failing to resist the force dragging her away. A hand came on her right shoulder tightly, attempting to help dislodge her from her escape.
Now, only her hands were holding on, the fingers stretching and hurting but holding on, fueled by her survival instincts. She yelped and whimpered, not managing any words with all the exertion in the last few minutes.
Aria for her part was also getting tired and not just with the girl’s resistance, her arms were starting to lose their strength again. Hurling knives around had been a welcomed exercise, but even that had slowly become strenious. Luckily for her, this Twilight was absolutely a weak nerd.
Amidst this struggle, the third girl hesitently stepped besides them. Dawn was looking down at the girl that had entered her home. In her mind, memories of the other Twilight came to the forefront again, of all the things that she had to be thankful for. She closed her eyes briefly and sighed.
“I am sorry. But I cannot let this happen.” Her cardinal red hands reached out to Twilight’s purple ones. Her fingers wrapped over the ones still holding onto the window opening.
Slowly, the first digit was pried off. Then a second. A third. As the right arm was finally dislodged, Aria turned and stemmed herself in the opposite position of Twilight while hoisting her body upon her own shoulder, just as Dawn went to work on the last fingers of the left hand.
The added height only made it more difficult for the fleeing girl to hold on to the only route towards safety. Her legs strampled wildly, her right arm restrained by the one holding and pulling her away from the window, making her unable to give a shred of resistance.
Only three fingers were left. Then only one finger that, straining against overwhelming strength, could not hold anymore and slipped off the window sill.
To add insult to injury, Twilight had to see the accomplice of her assailant quickly close and lock the glassen barrier as she was carried away back into the depths of the house. Too weak to fight in any meaningful way, her breath too laboured to even scream.
This was it for her. They would kill her now.
It was then that, surprising all three of them, Twilight suddenly hit the floor. Twilight, naturally, yelped in pain as she hit the hard stone tiles. Dawn also yelped as she tripped over the sudden purple obstacle in her path, also landing on the floor harshly. Aria for her part had dropped her prey so suddenly since her muscles had started to burn, the pain catching her off guard.
In the confusion, Twilight was the first to recover. Scrambling out from under the red form that had fallen over her, she started running again to where she thought the front door was. She didn’t look back at all, simply praying that she could make it outside.
And it seemed promising. Just as she rounded a corner, like a great prize she saw the front door of the house before her. She bolted for the proverbial finish line, ignoring her dropped and scattered equipement as she ran past it.
Thud!
Her only warning was the sudden sensation of touch around her ankles. Then her feet didn’t move, and she almost flew down to the ground, only saving her face any pain by instinctually raising her arms.
Shaking the short daze away and looking behind, Twilight’s blood froze. Her hunter had tackled her legs and brought her to fall. And right now, she was moving up her body like a giant spider.
Almost immediately she was right in her face, transfixing the girl with glowing crimson eyes. Then, she wrapped her arms around Twilight’s neck and chest and rolled to the side, bringing her trapped victim on top of herself and restraining her.
The nerdy student was bruised and exhausted and still she strained against her hold. But then she felt a hot breath by her ear. Followed by a voice so soft and clear and promising.
“Don’t struggle. Just relax!”
A deep sound, like an engine or a big purring animal filled Twilight’s ears and then her brain. It drowned out all her thoughts, the panic, and her instinct to fight and flee. She could feel her body finally relaxing, still shaking from the adrenaline but stopping its useless flailing.
Twilight’s genius mind slowly melted like a pack of cheese. Her body fell limb, her eyes closed, her breath became steady, and finally, her consciousness went dark.
Aria held on for an additional minute before letting the limb body carefully roll off her and unto the floor. It took her even longer to completely catch her breath and sit up, rubbing her strained and burning muscles.
“Wasn’t as good as I thought I could be. Maybe I could do with another few more hours of sleep.”
Dawn didn’t respond to her. She had already caught up with her friend and witnessed the end of the struggle. Right now, though, she was kneeling before the intruder’s dropped things. “We have a problem.”
“Do we?” The tired purple siren asked.
“I mean, look at her.” Aria gestured to the still body on the ground. “On her own, how big of a problem is she gonna be, now that we got her?”
As an answer, Dawn simply fiddled with the device that the intruder had carried in her hands and held it to Aria. The siren could immediately see some sort of screen displaying wavelengths as well as multiple lights blinking ridicously fast. There was also a second, circular screen that reminded her of a radar. A radar that showed two very bright spots sandwiching the middle, a.k.a. the device itself. It should really not take a genius, and Aria was very familiar with these types of technology to understand what this thing was likely doing.
“This is not good.”
Dawn just sighed and let her hands drop beside her, as both now stared at the girl who had somehow managed to accomplish the impossible.
“I mean… I really, really wish that this is not what we suspect it is.” She mumbled somberly.
“Girl, this is exactly that.” Aria replied. There was a sort of resignation underneath her annoyance. “I witnessed too many ‘coincidences’ in the last months for this to not mean what we think.”
“It would make sense. In our world, Twilight discovered the Element of Magic, along all the others, and became its bearer. And here, Twilight discovers magic itself. For all the differences, this dimension is still a parallel to Equestria.”
“Mhm, does make sense. Well.”
Cracking her neck, Aria bent down to pick up the unconscious girl, however Dawn held her back. The pointed look in her azure eyes was clear enough to bring the siren to back off, as the red girl carefully, and a bit clumsily, picked up Twilight in a bridle-carry and began walking upstairs.
“Sorry, Aria, but I don’t really trust you right now, not in Twilight’s vicinity.” She stated.
“Ugh,” The purple girl scoffed and crossed her arms.
“Also, you should know that you are not in any shape to carry her anywhere. Not without risking dropping her. Again!” Dawn continued on, making her way up the stairs. Her friend continued to grumble but followed her. It was probably for the best; her arms did still burn slightly.
Instead, she took some of the stuff that had been dropped when she had surprised the intruder. While following Dawn into her own room, she held this weird tracking device in her hand, turning and moving it closer then farther from herself.
Carefully, Dawn laid the knocked out would-be scientist onto the bed, placing her in a stable sideways position. The fuchsia houselady had already sat down on the edge of the enormous piece of furniture and was staring at their captured intruder through narrowed eyes. Dawn joined her.
“Now, what?” She asked her friend. “Are you planning to do something with her?”
“And what exactly do you mean with that?” Aria asked back, her eyes never leaving Twilight.
“Revenge?”
“Certainly, an idea.” The siren mused. “Only thing is that she hasn’t done a lot of wrong against me, or you. Aside from breaking in.”
“So, you are not going to kill her?” Dawn turned her gaze upon the lying girl as well.
“Of course.”
Dawn looked back at Aria. Her eyebrows rose upwards.
Her friend took a moment to realize her mistake before rolling her eyes dramatically. “I meant ‘Of course will I not kill her!’ Come on, what do you think I am, a psychopath?”
“You are a siren.” Dawn mumbled. “And this worlds Twilight has just found out about the existence of magic. And with extension that means she will find out about us and our world next.”
Placing her chin on her palm, Aria appeared to be deep in thought. “Well, tou-fucking-chée. Dunno how to handle that problem.”
Dawn sighed. It was a bit ironic, Sunset would have been happy to find this version of the one who saved her. She, and Sunset’s friends, would have immediately tried to befriend her. This whole problem could have been resolved so much easier.
“I think… maybe we should just let her wake up and then talk with her. This is not optimal but I believe we can turn this around. Going to be difficult though, you chasing her with knives didn’t really make for a good first impression.” Aria nodded thoughtfully.
“That does remind me of something that I wanted to ask you!” She suddenly spoke out, underlining her words by jabbing a finger against Dawn’s collarbone.
“And that cannot wait until after we solved this problem, the one we have right here?” The red girl replied. Though truth to be told, she was curious what sort of thing Aria was going to bring up now.
The answer, though not unexpected, was still somewhat troubling. “What do you want to do with your former friends? Afterall, they are partially responsible for your unfortunate circumstance, you said so yourself. Not mentioning that they have treated you not really well the few days before that.”
“So, you’re talking ‘bout revenge.” Dawn said. It was more a statement than a question.
“Aye.” Aria replied, smiling with anticipation. “We’re talking ‘bout revenge.”
Dawn stared into those crimson orbs. They should, by all rights, have been threatening to her; she should be afraid of them, or atleast wary. Yet, they had attempted to give her nothing but comfort in the last days. Even though so much had changed so fast. Even though she had tried to destroy them.
Two days ago, all she had worried about was going with her friend to a fancy restaurant and wondering why she had insisted on them wearing pretty dresses. Then, in short order, she had fallen sick only to wake up with a whole new live awakened inside her and had attempting to take the live of her only friend in a fit murderous confusion and blind rage. And now, in the aftermath of it all, came this. A normal human, nothing more than a curious double of Sunset’s savior, who was now pulled into the entire mess.
And now the crowning question: What to do?
It was too early for this. But she could see the eagerness in Aria’s blood-like eyes. Predator she was, her senses were smelling the chance, maybe even her only chance, to convince her of acting maliciously against her former band-friends. And there might have been a part of her screaming for revenge, but now that part was gone. “I… I don’t know Aria. I just- I can’t decide on this now.”
“And why not? Do you feel for them?” There was no anger, neither in her silver voice nor her crystal eyes. But there was want, there was need. Aria leaned forward so her face was only a handlength away from Dawn’s. “Are you not angry at how they treated you?” She almost whispered.
“Yes, I am angry. But still-“ She did not give Dawn the time for a better explanation. The siren had tasted blood and now she wanted to get as much of it as possible.
“So then! Why not give them even just a small taste? Your revenge, your rules. We can do whatever you want.” Aria grabbed the two red hands and held them tightly but reassuringly. “You deserve this, Dawn! They had little right to completely abandon you like they did! You saved their lives; you saved the entire school and yet they discarded you the moment they chose they didn’t trust you anymore.”
This caused Dawn to pull back. She held her hands over her eyes to shield them from the red orbs boring into them. “No!”
“What!.-“ Aria attempted again to close the gap between them but this time she was repelled.
“Stop, whatever you are doing Aria!” Dawn snapped at her, though she could not stop her eyes from watering. Her mind was filled again with these last days before her cataclysmic breakdown, all that she had experienced then. It took too much effort to try and push them away again. “Please, just stop. Don’t fill my mind with this shit!”
The Siren stared at her intently. Then she raised her hands and backed off enough to give her friend a bit of breathing space.
“I am in this world because I followed such thoughts once.” Dawn wiped away the moisture building up in her eyes. “Princess Twilight made me want to be a better person. I…just can’t… I won’t think like I once did, never again!”
Aria snorted at this, though she restrained herself from making a more pointed remark. She knew when to quit; pushing further would yield no results now, it would only make Dawn more upset.
“Careful what you proclaim. But alright. We will put a pin in it for now. Returning to the present, what to be done about Twirly here?” She gestured to the still soundly unconscious form next to them.
Neither of them said anything as they watched her, letting her steady breathing be the only sound. Eventually, it was Dawn who broke the silence.
“Simple, we explain everything she wants to know.” She said plainly.
Aria nodded slowly. “That is a bit dangerous. But if we cannot outright silence her than there aren’t really any other options.”
“So, your mind control is still not available?” Aria just sighed and fixed her friend with a humourless stare.
“That stuff is a bit more complex than ‘mind-control’. Alone, I could normally make someone act like I want to by nudging their perception and will into the direction I want it to go.” She indicated to her bandaged wrists. “Even that is going to be difficult now.”
Dawn nodded affirmatively and decided to pick up the subject later on. Instead, she leaned over the still unconscious schoolgirl.
“You think it’s time to wake her up?” She said out loud.
“We should probably. Better to get it over with now.” Aria said, standing up and stretching. “She is still in her school uniform. Probably here on her break or something. I think we will have to deal with her running late to school, after we’re done here.”
She rose slowly from her slumber. The cloth underneath her was so comfortable, she could not remember it ever being this soft. Maybe she had dismissed it too much recently, so much so that she had forgotten the feeling.
“Twilight. Twiii…”
The voice was just as soft, like an angel almost. It called out to her, trying to bring her away from the realms of dreamless sleep.
“Come on, please wake up.”
Sluggishly she stirred. “Sixty seconds.” She mumbled as she turned in the bed. Even though she wanted to hear more of the voice, to see the face it belonged too, Twilight also clinged to the peace and quiet of sleep.
But, as with so many other things, once started the process of awakening could not be reversed. So she rose, her thin arms barely managed to press her body off the mattress. Now she could make out a form sitting next to her on the bed, barely discernable through blary eyes and her own hair falling all around her.
“What time is it?” She grumbled.
The other figure waited for a moment, maybe looking at a corresponding device before she again graced Twilight’s ears with her voice. “9:37, give or take.”
“That’s too early for weekend.” The woud-be-scientist rubbed her eyes as she complained.
“It’s Monday.”
She felt like someone had emptied a bucket of ice over her. Monday. 9:37 AM. That meant school. Immediately she scrambled, right into a cardinal red arm that held her back.
“No! Let me-I have school, I have to go!” Her mind raced into full capacity, information started flowing and her memories came back.
“Twilight calm down! It’s too late for that already, just wait a moment!” Dawn grunted as she strained, not noticing the other girl’s eyes widening as she remembered what had happened today.
Which was why Dawn was not prepared when her charge suddenly stopped pressing forward but backward, letting her fall onto the bed and scampering to the headboard.
“Y-you. Whe-ere am I? Who are y-you?” She yelled, her body shaking and tears forming in her eyes. “A-and… h-how do you know m-me?!”
Dawn carefully moved backwards. This had to be handled smoothly and friendly, otherwise they would have a real problem on their hands. “Please. Breath. Calm yourself, I will not hurt you. I can explain all of this if you can give me a chance.”
“Wait… Ohnononono. This is bad. I… this is where-I am so, so sorry. Please, it was just a stupid dare. I promise I did not mean anything.”
She was a bad liar. Did not help that Dawn already knew everything, but still, she would never have believed the reason why this girl was here.
“Twilight, I already told you, I am not going to hurt you.” The scared teenager was looking around like a scared animal, barely being able to see anything, which only furthered her panicked state. “And my… friend, she will also not hurt you, I promise. Now, please, calm down for but a moment and let us talk so that we can clear this whole thing. Sound good?”
“B-but, I b-broke into the house.” Twilight stammered.
Dawn smiled, she hoped that she could avoid making it look creepy. “Yes, you did. We are however not angry for that. I can understand why, and if you let me then I could explain this to you.”
Finally, the purple girl calmed to the point of not being a scared animal anymore. She sat up straighter and pushed the hair out of her face. One hand grasped at her face and then searched around her for her glasses. There were not there, though luckily Dawn had them ready and handed them to her.
Now looking clearly, Twilight somewhat composed herself and looked the other straight in the eyes. There was conflict inside her own. She was still afrain, shellshocked from the last hours. Yet here was the, seemingly, peaceful offer of complete information. “I… have questions.”
“And I will answer them to the best of my ability.” Dawn said, clasping her hands a bit nervously. “So, shoot.”
A hundred thoughts swirled through her mind. “W-why did sh-your friend throw knives? If you didn’t want to hurt me; just why!?”
Dawn did not reply immediately, instead she took a good minute thinking about how she could correctly explain the situation.
“My friend is, let us say rather unusual and extreme in some cases-”
“I HEARD THAT!” came a shout from just outside the room.
Twilight immediately flinched fearfully. Dawn on the other hand just rubbed her eyes with a low groan. She was trying to be diplomatic here and Aria was not helping an already strenious situation.
“Look. She isn’t really a nice person, atleast not always. And uh, we had a bit of an… argument if you will. She just needed to blow off some steam. That whole, knife-throwing thing with you was a rather unfortunate circumstance. But she never wanted to hurt you, nevermind kill you! She, uh…”
Dawn gesticulated some rather uncouth gestures towards the door. Unfortunately for her, Twilight just stared at her, completely missing the meaning. The red girl opposite her just sighed and decided to just say it.
“She is just kind off a bitch sometimes.” She told the young scientist who subconsciously made a face at the .
Dawn tried to play it off as a jest with a chuckle, only for it to come across as akward and forced, which it was. The hollow chuckle died off slowly and ended with the red girl rubbing her eyes while sighing again.
“Sorry. Anyway, as horrible as it was for you and I apologize for the entire thing; for her it was not really more then some impromptu entertainment. I am truly sorry.“
“Alright, sure. Maybe the most traumatic exerience in my life yet and it was just a game.” Now it was Dawn’s turn to flinch.
“Next question.” She said bristly in an attempt to change the subject. If things would continue like this, they would get nowhere but far away from Twilight and they could not afford that. They needed her trust, or atleast willingness to not endanger them.
It was difficult wether or not the attempted subject change was a success or not. Twilight did not pursue the subject of her unfortunate greeting any further but neither did she open a new one. No, the timid girl simply stared at the other one; her eyes were falling down to the bed in thought and then darting back up again to look over the red figure, sometimes she would squint at the door from where she had heard the voice of her recent hunter.
“Ok, since you don’t want to talk right now, I’ll just continue.” Dawn said. She had to take the initiative here and get the favor of the young scientist. Luckily, she had just the thing for it. So, she reached into a pocket. “I know what this is, and I understand what it does. And let me say here that it is really impressive, all things considering. This is a lot. But uh, yeah. I know what it detects and… let me show you.”
Slowly, Dawn got Twilight’s sensory device out of her pocket. She caught a twitch in the scientist’s face, obviously she wanted it back. But she did nothing as she watched the girl in front of her fiddle with her own creation until it turned on.
Then her eyes grew and grew until they resembled dinner plates. She was practically glued onto the screens as Dawn held the device straight at herself, watching the readings and the sensors, her mind already bringing it all together to the obvious conclusion: The one in front of her was the source of this new energy.
“See?” The cardinal red girl whispered as she leaned forward, like she was sharing a secret. Which was true from a certain perspective. “In a way, you hit the right spot. Your… aproach needs work but, small steps.”
“What is it?” Twilight asked, carefully setting her wariness aside for the exitement over actually being able to learn more about her discoveries. “Is it an energy source, a new kind of radiation? There are so many possibilities, please tell me!”
Then she paused for a moment. It was clearly visible on her face that the gears in her head were working, arriving only now on a new revelation. “W-what are you?”
“Ok, that is a difficult one.” Dawn grabbed one of the big pillows close to her and leaned back into it, looking at the ceiling to appear more casual. Her fingers still turned the sensor absentmindetly. “My friend and I, we are, well I don’t know how to phrase it. Guests maybe, visitors-“
“Aliens?”
Dawn grimaced at that word. “I mean, not in the way… We are not from space if you’re wondering. As far as I can tell we are biologically human, though I didn’t really look under our skin so far. But, in a way? We are not from this world, or dimension for that matter. Sooo, you could say that, I would just prefer you not to.”
“Then… what are you supposed to be?” Twilight actually leaned forward, her eyes flashing curiously behind her glasses. Her right hand was twitching slightly, clenching as if it was holding a pencil.
It was the first time that Dawn was actually put on the defensive in this conversation; she felt like being sized up like a lab specimen. Nevertheless, she chose not to divulge her first big secret right now already. “Well first of all, my name is Sunset Shimmer.”
Twilight just nodded, not entirely happy with the reply.“Is that a translation or like, did you pick that one?”
Sunset had to suppress a more genuine chuckle.
“No. We have the same naming conventions as you, I’ll explain more later. So yeah, you can call me Sunset. As for my friend-“
“Name’s Aria Blaze.” It came from the door.
Aria had apparently managed to open the door and sneak in without much noise, as she was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed, with a light smirk on her face.
Twilight sounded like she was choking on something, though to her credit she didn’t run away or even leave the bed. She did put Dawn between herself and the siren.
“Ok, please, Aria! Just knock before you enter, would be helpful. You’re lucky she didn’t-” The cardinal red girl stopped herself by burrying mouth and nose under her hands and breathing deeply. “You know what? Ignore her, just, continue asking.”
“Ok…” Twilight forced herself to avert her eyes of the smirking purple figure at the door. Instead, she looked at her sensory device in Dawn’s hand. She gathered herself before asking. “So, these readings that I have been receiving. What is it? Some kind of energy source? A new wavelength that you are emitting?”
“Yeah, about that.” Dawn replied carefully. “Purely theoretic, it is a sort of ambient energy from our dimension. The reason you found your way to us is because both Aria and me have it in our body, it is a part of us.”
“But I also found weak traces in open spaces or received short flunctuations from massive emissions.” The scientist explained, raising her eyebrows as if asking a question.
“Like where?” Dawn asked uneasily. Aria silently walked up to them and set down next to her on the bed. She had stopped smirking.
“Well, there was the yard in front of Canterlot High School. And the Royal Bridge, where the accident happened…” Twilight said eagerly yet she started to trail off. Her brow furrowed; her eyes widened as worry grew on her face. The comfortable sense of ease that had been building between them died a horrible death as she tried to slowly bring more distance to the red girl.
“Was that you?” Her voice wavered, afraid.
“I…” Dawn struggled to find an answer. She looked to Aria, who was just as unsure. They had the choice of telling this girl everything, not knowing how deep they would pull her into a pit that she might not climb out again. Yet, they had done a rather big leap already. Especially with Twilight’s curiosity, it might have already been too far to her to turn back.
That realization seemed to come to Aria first. She reached out and put her hand on the cardinal red one of the girl that had somehow wormed her way into her life. Looking into those cyan eyes, she nodded.
“That was me, yes.” Dawn carefully said. “But I did not cause it in the way that you may think. I… was the one inside the medical. The accident was the result of… it is a long and complicated story. Something we should only really tell after this has been cleared.”
“I agree.” Aria pipped up. “The question is really, what do we do now? What is the plan here? Because until now we have been just winging it and I admit completely; throwing knives and hunting someone through the house is not the best thing I have done.”
Twilight would have had very right to yell ‘No really!?’ as her face was already screaming this, though she refrained from actually doing that. Instead she made an effort to keep herself level-headed, as well as maintaining the distance to her former hunter.
“Here is the problem that we have, Twilight. You don’t really have any reason to trust us, not with our past actions. And our promise to not hurt you only really goes so far as you would let our word count. But simultaniously, we can’t trust you, except to the point that you have too much of an academic interest in studying us, to not rat us out to the police.” Dawn explained.
“That is fair. I… this feels stupid but, I want to make this work too. But how can I trust you to not use me?” Twilight asked. Dawn was not sure, it almost sounded like there was a desperate hope in the young girl’s voice. Was her need to discover more that great, or maybe there was another hope?
“We could, for example, as a first step into our new ‘friendship’ help you to cover the fact that you skipped school.” She proposed.
“Yeah, that. To be honest here, I really didn’t think things through either.” Twilight groaned as she rubbed her face. Her eyes stared pleadingly at her new compatriots. “Oooh, I will get in so much trouble for not coming.”
“Can you call in sick?”
The school girl shook her headed. “No. If that were the case then I should have already called it in at the school. Also, my parents think I went to school just like always, they will know that something is up.” She couldn’t suppress the instinctual whimper at the thought. The possibilities of what would happen to her when her parents found out about this day’s exploits were too many and too terrible for her mind. And that did not factor in her brother.
“How about we say that you fell sick on your way there? Went to the hospital.”
“That is a bit too difficult I think. But good base idea.” Aria said, while her hand rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Then she suddenly snapped her finger. “How about this: on your way to Crystal Prep, you were jumped by someone and went to the police afterwards.”
“I was… jumped?” Twilight asked confused. The snap had brought her out of her day-nightmare, though she thusly had only heard half of the idea. The purple siren couldn’t suppress rolling her eyes.
“Mugged. Robbed, whatever you want to call it. Some dude stole your bag and went off running, maybe knocked you over or something.” She elaborated driely.
Dawn nodded, rubbing her hands absentmindetly. “We might have to dump your bag with your stuff for credibility-“
“Deal!” Twilight said. She looked suprisingly determined.
“Decisive. I like it.” Aria whispered next to Dawn’s head. Twilight must have heard her.
“This is the opportunity of a lifetime. There is so much that I could learn; loosing school material is worth it.” She said, though her hands displayed her still-present nervousness, as she intertwined them.
“If you say so. Atleast we have a plan now that might work.” Dawn nodded, standing up from the soft mattress of the bed. “After that… We will have to see.”
The two purple girls also climbed off the bed, the younger schoolgirl more hesitantly. Once standing she regarded her new compatriots with a mixture of still-lingering caution and nervousness, as well as a sudden feeling of akwardness. A feeling that did not seem to be confined to her alone. For all the talking they had just done, the two ladies of the house too seemed to suddenly be taken by apprehension concerning their freshly planed actions.
The slowly building akward tension came to a point when Twilight subtly clenched her legs and tried to avert her eyes towards the door. “Hey, can I maybe…”
“Sure, bathroom is just to the right.” Aria quickly responded.
They watched together as the purple schoolgirl quickly scampered off the bed and disappeared out of the room. And they still looked at the open door, contemplating this days events, from the bloody early morning to the hectic chase in the afternoon leading up to this. Then going over the plan they had just hatched, and what this rushed little arrangement might mean for their future.
Aria was the first to say anything. “I don’t think we are going to have a lot of quiet time in the next few days.” She spoke quietly. There was neither sarcasm nor even her smirky casualness in her voice. She just sounded as she looked. Tired and cautious.
“Yep.” Dawn let her body go slack and fall sideways onto the soft bed. One hand brushed over the covers, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. It brought back memories. Of home. Of parties with her friends. What all that had led into.
“Honestly, everything has been moving so fast. I am… I am a bit scared what will happened next.” She confessed quietly.
Aria gave her friend a saddened look. Then she plopped down next to her. “Me too, Dawn, me too. Let’s just not jinx it.”
They remained like this, even when they finally heard the toilet flushing. When Twilight left the bathroom, Dawn had let her eyes fall closed as she let her memories flow freely. She could barely feel Aria playing with a few strands of red and gold hair.
Her body was protesting as she sat up. Her siren friend felt the same, or atleast judging from her expression she seemed to. They both had only gotten a roughly combined nine and a quarter hours of sleep after the fight, which, as they unspokenly agreed, was not nearly enough after all the strain.
But they had a plan and they needed to carry it out. Then they maybe could sleep for the rest of the day. And the following night.
Twilight was waiting outside of the bedroom. For all the talking, none said anything as they made their way downstairs.
The young schoolgirl was actively biting her lip as she descended the stairs down into the more than familiar ground floor. It only got worse when she saw the pile of equipement she had dropped, some damaged by the fall. Not far from it was her backpack, which Dawn picked up and held to her.
“If you have anything irreplacable that you could justify carrying on your person, take it. The rest will have to stay here with us.” She said, trying her best to give an assuring smile.
There were fortunately only few things that Twilight seemed to cheerish enough to keep on her person. She even left her own customised equipement behind.
Stepping outside, Aria had already brought the car to the front of the house with the doors open. Twilight hesitated for a moment. Then she bit her lipp, clenched her fist and climbed onto the back row. Dawn joined her there, although it was mostly to give the girl some company and reassurence.
Once seated, her eyes locked with Aria’s. The siren nodded before starting the engine and driving onto the street. No one said a word for the first minutes of the drive, before Dawn turned to Twilight.
“So, while we drive to the next police precinct; how about I tell you a bit about where I come from?” She spoke.
With this, she might get the girl to become more at ease and trust them. Also, if they were about to include her, then it was best to start early. There was a lot to tell her.
They ended up parking a few blocks away from the precinct, walking the last stretch by foot while talking. Or rather, Twilight was talking.
She had taken to the subject of parallel dimensions very quickly, which was barely surprising, and spent most of the car ride as well as the walk voicing her theories and other thoughts. Dawn tried her best to actively listen and understand all the rambling, though it proved quite hard sometimes. At first, she had also given answers and her own thoughts, but by this point Twilight could barely be interrupted.
Aria on the other hand had a look of only mild interest, mostly looking ahead and occasionally making sounds to show that she was still listening. Wether she actually was or just pretended, Dawn didn’t know.
There were nearing the police station by now. Luckily, Dawn had managed to impress upon Twilight not to say too much specific of what she had been told and to restrict her theorizing to general principles; just to be safe. It might not have mattered, Twilight looked for all intents and purposes like a very excited nerd or student.
Which she was in a way. Thusly, few would actually pay much mind to what she was rambling.
“… but it is rather interesting how the parallels work. Would the same person be a complete copy in the parallel dimension? Will they achieve the same sort of things that their counterpart has? Or might they be completely unbound from their other self’s achievements? There is so much possibility, the variation…”
Suddenly, Twilight went ahead a few steps of the trio and turned around whilst still talking, now walking backwards. Surprised, Sunset’s mouth wasn’t able to form any words, instead just hanging open slightly.
“And what about the butterfly effect? How many dimension exist that are completely similar to ours with only minor things being different? Or, maybe only big changes can create their own separate dimension…”
Then she spotted it, just up ahead the pavement was blocked by two men carrying a thick pipe from a delivery truck to a house. In the moment, the one in front seemed to argue with a third person at the entrance, while the other carrier had rested the pipe on his shoulder facing them. Neither had spotted the girl rapidly approaching the heavy metal between them. Sunset called out to the purple student to stop…
…only for her mouth to not produce any sound. Instead, the only thing she heard was a dull humming sound in the back of her head. She immediately looked at Aria, whose eyes were narrowed into two slids. Inbetween them, she could see the crimson red eyes of the siren.
“Let us say for example that the earth we know was invaded by aliens who established a regime to hide the fact that they are making us into their new forms because they are dying…”
Twilight seemed to notice nothing, still walking backwards, and talking until-
BANG!!!
It took them a fair few minutes until the young girl was conscious and cognizant, to some extent at least. The workers had already carried on after being stopped from apologizing profusely for the next five minutes, on account that Twilight would be fine.
“What in hell was this for.” Same could not be said for her compatriots, as Dawn was now angrily hissing at her siren friend. “I thought you said earlier that manipulating someone was still difficult.”
Aria gave her a somewhat tired glare back, she was rubbing her throat with a gloved hand, all bandages skillfully hidden underneath cloth.
“And it is. But this will only help us.” This only got her an even harsher glare.
“Oh, come on, think about it.” The siren snapped back. “This will only give our story more credibility. She got knocked out, her stuff was stolen, we found her. Now stop glaring so much.”
“Ugh, my head is spinning.” Came the voice from below their heads. To let her come to her bearings, the two had laid Twilight on their knees. The girl still looked dazed by the sudden introduction to a metal pipe, a proportionaly large bruise already forming on the point of impact.
“That does not make this okay in any way or form.” Dawn grumbled to her friend, even though she had to quietly admit that Aria was right. Unfortunately, Aria caught this and answered with an equally silent but still aggrivating smirk. “Now come.”
Together, they each took one of Twilight’s arms over their shoulders and started to halfway carry her to the precinct.
“Twilight, you remember our plan?” Dawn asked the dazed girl between them as loudly as she dared, luckily there were few pedestrians nearby. She only got a slow nod as an answer. It would have to do, she thought.
Soon enough they were there, supporting Twilight as she took the few steps towards the main door.
“Now, do your best Aria.” Dawn said to her friend, despite everything she was not able to stop herself from grinning.
Aria grinned back. She felt nostalgic, plotting to trick some poor officers into doing what they wanted and believing whatever she would say. She took one good look at her friend and their newest aquientice between them. It almost felt like the good old times.
Crystal Prepatory Academy. The longsworn rival to Canterlot Highschool, and in their eyes, their superiors in all fields. Here, only the gifted are allowed entry, wether that is by actual capability or the gift of being born rich and influental is rather irrelevant to the school. The standards are high, the staff well-paid, the equipement top-notch and the students the worst. If Canterlot High is a cage filled with hormonal monkeys, then Crystal Prep is a gold-plated tank with narcissistic sharks.
Aria knew that they were looking at her, she just didn’t care. She allowed herself to bask in the attention the students were giving her. Only some were irritated at the presence of someone who obviously didn’t belong on these grounds, but more were curious, surprised to the utmost to see her standing in front of the prestigious school, feet already on official school grounds.
She could not have looked more out of place here, with students exclusively in purple school uniform around her, gawking their eyes out. Her old grey trenchcoat was keeping her warm against the cold weather, but it was opened to allow all to see fiery orange jacket with yellow and red lining underneath. It was combined with matching pants that turned from red to white downwards. It had the result she had specifically bought them for: make her stand out in the dark purple this academy seemed to favor so much.
They also reminded her of Dawn, which was just one more reason to buy and keep them.
Every single member of this school cares for only one thing. That is, themselves. Weaknesses of others are to be exploited. Status is all, and everything is allowed so long as you can get away with it.
Nobody dared to stop her as she entered through the front doors, the students parting for her as if she was royalty. She could see all the expressions on their faces; she could hear all the whispers, asking who she was and why she was here. Some speculated she was a new student or the total opposite, an old graduate returning for a visit.
But they are only squabbling children, each trying to be the most popular and well-liked amongst its kindred. Compared to me, they are nothing. Shark pups, who do not realize that there are more important things in the sea than fame. And that there are things much nastier than them.
She stopped right in the middle of the foyer, turning in a circle once to let her eyes wander. As so much had changed, so much had stayed the same Aria thought as she closed her eyes. She had been here with her sisters, three or four decades ago. The biggest difference, aside from the now more advanced technology, had been the school’s attitude and with that the students. Of course, they had always been elitist and arrogant, which had made it such a lovely spot to be and feed. But nowadays, the student’s petty superiority complex and status obsession was focused much more inwards to their collegues.
Aria breathed in deeply once, then her mouth opened partway. All that were watching her only got confused by this strange display, it was because they could not hear like she could. She channeled the ancient magic deep in her, her crimson gem glowing brightly under multiple layers of fabric. It all was released through her vocal cords and out of her mouth, too high-pitched for anyone to pick up on, as ultrasonic waves into the corridors of the school building. Looking for someone.
It was a pointless effort to search for a specific person in crowd with this method, unless one knew what and who to look for. And even though she had only known her for a really short time, Aria was more then enough familiar with Twilight to identify her.
Opening her eyes, she started to walk down one of the corridors. Magical abilities aside, she had also gotten her hands on Twilights weekly timetable, so she knew what lesson the young scientist should have and what room she should thusly be in. Of course, actually finding her was still no catwalk since she had to find the correct room without missing her target. Unfortunately, the general layout of the school building was not something Aria had memorized. Even then, thirty plus years was a lot of time for reconstructing and this school certainly did not lack the money to do so regularly; so magical tracking had to fill the gaps.
It was with this combination of memorial fragments, supernatural echo-location, and blind guessing that the siren made her way through the halls. Sure, she could have just asked someone, but that would defeat the point. She meant to be mysterious, to come across as something different, something higher; if she were to ask then it would contradict the image she was trying to form here and she needed this image for her purposes.
Also, she could finally flex her abilities, even though none here would ever truly appreciate them. With the exception of one particular girl, although with her it would depend on how things with her would progress.
Speaking of… there she was. Aria put on a wide smirk and started to slightly quicken her pace, periodically sending out new waves to keep her mark on the girl. Before her, the students stepped out of the way of her long strides. Many were completely put off, shaken away from their elitist façade they all put on, reduced to nothing more then gaping idiots. And still, none dared to oppose her, even though there would be enough reasons for her to not be allowed in Crystal Prep. But as she had long since learned and perfected, if you act confidently enough, like you are supposed to be here, then most people won’t stop you.
She was getting closer and closer. Thusly, Aria adjusted her sonic waves to concentrate on Twilight’s echo instead of casting them out like a wide net. As she neared the last corner to be rounded, she slowed down; multiple echos were approaching Twilight quickly. Leaning against the corner, Aria stopped her echoing and instead started a deep hum. In a matter of seconds, the students who had been gawking at her all blinked and then carried on with their buisiness as she more or less disappeared from their perception. It was really just a simple trick, all one had to do was to tell a mind that you were not there.
This allowed her to listen in on the girl she had been tracking down and the newly joined students.
“Perfect record, Sparkle! I had a perfect record until you blew it!” One of the students yelled straigtht into the young scientist’s face. “Now the teacher is up my ass!”
“I-I am sor-ry.” She whimpered back. They did not seem to like that answer, one of the students seized her shoulders and pushed her roughly against the wall between lockers.
They all crowded around her, almost blocking her from Aria’s sight. There were few other students walking by the exchange, those that did either genuinely ignored the exchange or simply smirked arrogantly as they passed them.
“I l-lost my equipe-m-ent, I-“ Twilight was shut off when one of her tormentors brutishly grabbed her bun and yanked her head backwards to stare down to her. She yelped from the pain yet made no effort to resist, simply staring back fearfully.
“I don’t give two flying pigs about whatever excuse you have! You do as your betters tell you, or do you not think so anymore? Are you that stupid?” He snarled into her face, close enough to be literally breathing down her throat. Another of the students grabbed after Twilight’s back.
“You fail to do your job and you get punished for it. So, let us have a look in your back, shall we?” The others loudly voiced their approval; as she reached for the young scientist’s bag however it was pulled away from her hand, even though Twilight was still held at her hair by another she clutched her possessions close to herself.
“Oh! Little snail wants to play big girl?” The assaultant snapped invidiously. Immediately she stepped closer and dug her nails into Twilight’s chin to forceably make her look at her. “I think we should inspect your little hidey hole that you got. What do you guys think?”
Again, she was met with loud approval. Twilight was yanked forward, one brief wrestle she had no chance to win, and her schoolbag was seperated from her. She wanted to flee them, flee the entire school, only for a strong hand to hold her at her neck and guide her towards her personal lab. She did not even dare to whimper, tears rolling silently down her cheeks.
Then she heard it, and they heard it as well.
Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.
Aria approached them with an almost casual gait, letting her combat boots fall strong with every step, anouncing her arrival to everyone. She had a smile that most might call friendly, yet her eyes were piercing and cold, staring down at each of them like an accuser. And it was so satisfying to her, seeing them back down and shrink under her gaze. They parted before her, letting her through to the young and pained girl.
Twilight almost stumbled as suddenly her tormentors all took a step back from her, leaving her enough space with Aria. She could not properly react to this sudden change in her bullies’ behavior.
“Twiliight.” Aria purred, reaching out and drawing her into a deep hug before placing a kiss on her forehead. “So glad that I finally found you, this school is still quite a maze, but I knew you were here somewhere.”
“A-ar-ia?” was all that the scared girl could manage. It took all her mental will to not break down in the arms of the woman who had hunted her not two days ago, yet now acted like she genuinely cared about her. Seperating their heads from the hug momentarily, Aria gave the young schoolgirl a quick and faked lookover. She had of course seen all she had to long already. But she was here to put on a show.
“Oh no, oh my poor sweat sister. Does it still hurt you so much?” She proclaimed; way too exagerated and dramatic in her opinion, but all around her could only hold it for genuine worry and sorrow. Such was her skill and the effect on weak mortalings. And to simply underline her work, she again embraced Twilight in a close and comforting sisterly hug. “Don’t worry, I am here for you now.”
It was so amusing to her. Not five minutes ago, these students had acted like they were royalty and thusly entitled to do everything they wished, even acting like petty bullies. Now, they were standing around uselessly, not knowing what to do the moment something outside their pathetic power range approached. The greatest joke to Aria was that they did not, could not ever, understand how weak they all really were against her, like sheep against a dragon.
“And these finely people, are they your friends?” She asked in a voice drenched sugarly sweet. Aria had to suppress herself smirking as she saw many of them flinch away from her, her hidden message not lost on them.
Twilight only mumbled something that was too unclear to understand, most likely she had not even intended to say something. The siren nevertheless pick up on it as if she had heard every word clear as rain.
“Oh, that is so nice of them, looking out for you after that horrible person assaulted you. I don’t even know what I would have done if I found out you were hurt, my little shooting star! You barely made it with just this bruise, if I even start to imagine what could have happened to you… I am so glad nobody tried to seriously hurt you. Come on now, you wanted to show me that privat lab of yours.” It was too easy to guide Twilight forwards, the girl did not move one muscle to resist her. Though, to Aria’s satisfaction, the younger girl let herself lean onto her shoulders to seek some comfort. As they walked from between the tormenting students, Aria grabbed Twilight’s bag from the student that had took it. There was only a minimum of resistance that lasted until she turned her head to look straight into their eyes. “Thank you.” She said, sweet voice hiding her biting voice and the threat she had silently spoken to all of them.
All of them looked after her; none dared to oppose her as no single person in this school had done. She knew they had gotten the message. I know, she had told them underneath her honied voice and kind words, I know, and I dare you to do that again.
For those who dared to enter, Twilight Sparkle’s private lab would at first look like nothing more than a small space packed to the brim with tables and all sorts of equipement lacking any functional system of ‘what is where’. However, the mess of electronics to one side and scientific tools and necesseties to the other was in fact established by Twilight herself through a long and ardeous process to find the most effective place for each of them.
Which was to say it was her mess, much like a typical teenager’s bedroom, and she was more than capable to navigate it to find what she needed with the minimum of effort.
One addition that was both somewhat new and standing out between all the equipement was a cushion in one of the corners, placed in such relation to the furniture that the spot was barely visible when entering through the door. On this cushion was a similarly out of place and similarly soft dog plushie. The use of these items were more then clear to Aria as she stood in front of Twilight, who was sitting on the cushion hugging the dog tightly, looking like she wanted to make herself as small as possible.
Aria was standing in front of her, leaning against one of the tables with her arms crossed. She regarded the curled up girl in front of her patiently, waiting for her to initiate their conversation.
Twilight however was more then reluctant to do so, prefering to gently rock back and forth on her cushion with her eyes almost completely closed. In her head, just behind her eyes, she could still see the face of the creature, she who had hunted her relentlessly with crimson eyes that screamed for blood, she who had protected her like the sister she had let herself appear as.
Twilight feared the woman that was standing before her, even more then all the bullies and tormentors at this school, even more then the Principal herself. This was a being from outside of this reality, a being that would switch from cruel to friendly at her own leisure.
And yet, Twilight also wanted to stay close to her. She wished the being that looked just like a normal person would care for her, protect her like she had before, be to her like a genuine sister. That fleeting moment, though her darkest thoughts reprimanded her and accused it all to be just another play, she still yearned for more. She hated it, hated herself for these feelings; she absolutely despised how much she wanted the lie to be a simple truth.
Desperately she tried to crush it all, to bury her emotions in cold rationality and pragmatism. It was successful, enough atleast for her to gently straighten herself and put her emotional support plushy away. Still, she could not look at her out fear she would once again be entranced by the faulse sense of sisterly comfort and protection, so she stared out of the window.
“What was that?” Twilight’s voice came out as barely more than a whisper, yet the woman standing before her had not even the smallest of troubles understanding her.
And again, she let a smile grace her lips, though she did not let it become one of her trademark smirks. Instead, she made it appear friendly.
“Well, consider it a courtesy. Just a little bit of help, you know? Those idiots wouldn’t have backed off of you otherwise. They need to learn a lesson.” She spoke. Then, however, her face morphed into a cold, harsh visage that stared provokingly at the schoolgirl.
“Can’t really really blame them for that, though. You are just the perfect bully-target, no muscle, no gut, no confidence at all and not even a single connection to cover your hide. It’s really pathetic.” Her boots made loud clacking sounds as she closed the gap between them, her fingers poking like spear tips at Twilight.
“W-what do you want?” The girl snapped back with enough anger as she could muster, which proved to be none at all. Too shaken was she from the encounter with her fellow students who had almost hurt her more than they ever had.
It was not made better by the fact that Aria was so close to her again. And this time her voice carried no warmth, only sharp words.
“See?! That’s what I’m talking about! You can’t stand up for yourself, you have nothing to hit back with!” The siren stabbed her finger one more time into the purple girl’s shoulder. Then, however, she switched her tone, sitting down before her and leaning close. “We will change that, but all in due time. Right now, I need a favor from you.” She said conspiratively.
“And… what is that?” Twilight asked back.
“Oh, nothing special, just a little task for you to do.” Aria told her, though her attitude said enough for Twilight to understand that this was more than a little non-special thing. “Just something I need to help a friend of mine.”
”I cannot understand why you insist on this, Aria!” Dawn sharply turned away from her, crossing her arms defiantly. “I already explained why I don’t want this. It should be enough for you to let it drop.”
“Oh, you did alright. But you can’t hide from me how hurt you still are from what they did, deep down in your heart. All I am offering is a chance to soothe the pain, of all the shit you were put through from them. They cared no two actual shits about you!” Aria fought back with equal sharpness in her voice.
“Why did you come to me-“ Twilight asked, though she was cut off by the siren closing in to her again. This time however, Aria grabbed her by the shoulders and let excitement bleed into her voice.
“Because you fit all the requirements. You are smart, you can work fast. And you will not tell anyone about this. You’ll gain something from this too! There is a lot that I have to offer you, so much that I can do for you.” She spoke animatedly. At the last words, her hands caressed Twilight’s shoulders just as her voice gained an almost sensual undertone.
The schoolgirl could not resist shuddering at the sensation, her mind automatically playing out the obscurely implied things that Aria had just offered.
Yet she still tried, and succeeded, in battling these images away to regain her focus. She had to all but force herself to remain wary of Aria, mentally conjuring up the memories of being hunted like a rabbit through the house. She could not trust Aria, or so she told herself.
“This isn’t illegal, is it?” She asked as detached as she could, though her face still twitched as it tried to remain as solid as possible.
Aria caught the red girl’s shoulder and held her back strongly, though without any actual force. “The only reason you don’t want to hurt them is because of your past ‘friendship’. They took pity on you! You-“
“I don’t CARE!” Dawn interrupted her heatedly, whirling to face her again. “And I don’t care about THEM! I want nothing to do with them anymore, not for a long, long while. You will respect that, Aria Blaze! And you will leave them alone, do we understand eachother!?”
Her intensity did not faze the ancient creature in the slightest. They stared into eachothers eyes, both daring the other to be the first one to throw the towel. It was Aria who backed down, albeit only figuratively. “Fine.” She said, drawing the word out with as much vocal venom as she could bring, and she had a lot.
“Nooo, it’s not.” Aria responded. Her demeanor made a sudden change, going from almost flirtatiously to a casual aloofness. One of her fuchsia arms snaked around Twilight’s neck while the other presented itself before the Siren’s eyes as if she was checking her nails. “You are just gonna go online and track a few things for me.”
“Things?” Twilight asked carefully. Aria’s shift into a more friendly and buddy-like tone was setting her even more on edge.
“Yep. Well, people really.” She said, as if discussing her new neighbours. The girl in her arm however reacted rather loudly to this little revelation.
“What?! Why?!”
“What do you know about Canterlot High School?” Aria said, walking a few steps away and towards some of the room’s computer hardware. Her voice lost all the friendliness it had held before, speaking the name of Crystal Prep’s rival school as if it had personally offended her.
Twilight’s words stumbled out of her mouth before she could reaffirm herself. The sudden shift had thrown her off again. “A-a lot. I… did some research on the school for…”
“Was it when you were tracking the energy signatures?” After a moment’s hesitation, Aria simply ended her sentence for her, as she swiftly turned around to let their eyes meet again.
“Yes.” Twilight simply replied with a nod, pulling back slightly. It was more of a subconscious move; she had immediately felt slightly ashamed at the mention of the whole thing, mostly because of the stupid decision she had made because of it, a couple of days ago.
Again, Aria seemed to have completely read her thoughts. “Oh, don’t worry. Everything is fine, now, where was I? What do you know about events that happened at CHS, let us say, last december?” She told the young scientist with a small smile.
“Do you mean the bridge-accident?” Twilight asked. Aria just shook her head.
“Not really, just right before that.”
Twilight made a pause before that, ruffling through her mental notes to find whatever Aria was alluding to. It came to her quickly enough, her mind bringing forth memories of a dinner, her brother telling her the short version of what had happened.
“That would be the Cybermobbing disaster. Anon-A-Miss, correct?” She guessed.
“And what about Anon-A-Miss? They are still the ones responsible for not only your pain, but for the pain of a lot of other students.” Aria asked. She did not need to say what she suggested they’d do, they both knew what she ment. It had not the effect that the siren desired however, as Dawn’s scowl only worsened.
“Don’t even think about it, Blaze! Leave the entire thing alone, I do not want or need your help because this matter will be resolved here and now!” She all but snarled at her friend. “There will be no revenge! We will let that stupid school be and focus on our own shit!”
“Indeed.” Aria clapped her hands together. “So, my favor, that I want you to carry out, is to go and find where these posts were coming from. I want to know who did this, I want the person behind all this.”
“And can I ask why?”
“You can.” Aria told her bluntly. If Twilight had expected anything to follow that statement however, she was greatly disappointed. The fuchsia girl just looked her straight in the eyes with a mask as stiff as a statue, not letting anything slip past. Then eventually she gave the schoolgirl a strange look before speaking more silently. “You’re not expecting me to tell you everything, do you? Honestly, it is better if you don’t know anything more. For your own safety. Keep you clean. Keep you innocent of it all.”
Twilight began to feel actual dread crawl up her back. Her mind was severely conflicted, not knowing if Aria was just trying to freak her out or if she was really planing on hurting someone. Maybe even more importantly, Twilight didn’t know if she should accept or not.
Having been subjected to a hunt run by Aria she was more then cautious of casting this fate on anyone else, fully knowing that the fuchsia girl could probably run down anybody in some way, additionally to the suspicion that this time she would not refrain herself.
However, this person might just deserve this. From what she had read and heard, this Anon-A-Miss was responsible for countless destroyed friendships and relations, inciting hate and mockery across an entire school. She knew how it felt to be picked upon by everyone.
All this did not escape the Siren’s notice, of course. She smiled, barring her teeth slightly, and delivered the final move on her side. Initiating it with an energetic clap of her hands.
“So! What would you like in return?” She asked with her voice dripping with faked excitement. “I could help you train, y’know get a little bit of meat on these arms. I mean really…”
Twilight attempt to pull her arm away from the siren came far too late. Aria had snatched her right hand, pulling the scientist closer, and shook it a few times to let the appendage wobble.
“It feels like I could just break your wrist with one hand. That will not work. It would take time of course but more than doable, would help with your confidence too. You really need that. This school is like a snake pit. Charming place really.” Aria continued to speak, finally letting the purple hand go after tapping it almost condescendadly a few times.
“Of course,” She said, her mouth pulling back to show off her teeth like a predator preparing for its next meal. The similiarity was far to great in Twilight’s opinion. Her fear of the woman in front of her was swiftly returning, not help when Aria spoke again, her voice getting lower and sounding like she was also growling. “I could also take care of this bullies. No problem for me.”
“You… are you threatning to kill them?”
“I am not threatning!” “At most, this is an offer to kill them, and only if you want. I have a lot of things that I could do with them. I have a lot I can do in general. And that is my offer in exchange to you. Say whatever you want. I’ll listen, and I am certain I can fullfill whatever you ask for. You do what I want, and you can choose to have me do something. Do we have a deal?”
“I, I don’t know. Can you… just please don’t harm anyone, okay?”
“Alright, you made yourself more than clear.” Aria raised her hands in a de-escalating gesture. Her voice had instantly losed its edge, becoming noticably calmer and more comforting. “We won’t seek out revenge on either your former shitty band or the bitch that made all this happen.”
Dawn stared at her angrily for a few moments before, with a long-drawn sigh, she also released her anger. Slumping forward she leaned against Aria’s chest, soon feeling the fuchsia girl’s arms wrapp around her carefully.
“I just want to stay away from it all, Aria.” She said quietly. “I don’t want to think about it. This is my fresh start and I… I know where this can lead. I just want figure out how things are now and move on from there.”
Aria nodded and leaned her head on Dawn’s. They staid like this for a good minute before the red girl spoke up again. “Promise me you won’t go against them, ok? Please.”
“Don’t worry, Dawny. I promise.” Aria replied softly.
“Of course, you can trust me.” The silvery voice said, worming its way into her mind like a snake, whispering golden words and honeyed lies.
And yet she willingly accepted these lies. Already her mind was forming possible answers, things she wanted, only to discard them for greater options. Her ambition, paired with her burning need to satiate her curiosity wanted her to use this to learn all she could about everything of Aria’s world, to bring the knowledge of the strange energy and the power it undoubtibly possessed.
However, soon her thoughts became less focused and her mind darkened. The woman in front of her had offered so many things, so many terrible things. Twilight could let her do what she herself would never have been able. She could finally be free from the constant bullying, freed from the suffering she had to endure.
Countless options of what she could demand filled her head, each appealing to her. Greatly varied their severity. Some, she did not dare to think, though they still lingered in her mind, intent on making her morbid wishes known. Try as she might, she could not battle them down, especially not after what had happened today.
Aria, of course, saw the turmoil unfolding in the girl. She relished in it in fact, excited at the prospect of what Twilight was going to demand. With a coy smile gracing her lipps, she stepped closer and only slightly bent her knee so as to bring her eyes just under the conflicted scientist’s. One hand gently brushed over a purple cheek, cupping her chin before pulling back. She dipped forward as if she was bowing, arms extended outwards. Her eyes never broke contact as she smiled widely.
“I am at your service, Twilight Sparkle. So, do tell, what is it you most desire?”
This story has Death tag and at one point also had the Dark as well as the Gore tag, and the following section of this chapter is going to fully justify their use.
If you want to skip these contents, for whatever reason you have, just scroll down until you find this transition-line again.
=o0o=
She looked like a picture from an old fable. A young-looking, beautiful girl, she rested peacefully on the bed as if in eternal slumber. Her fair features at rest, eyes closed, her hair framing her face perfectly. Slow and rythmic was her breathing, the only sound in the room.
It could have been a scene worthy of eternalizing, the sleeping beauty in the spotless room. The enormous windows letting bright orange light flowing in, most likely a sunset.
It could have…
Had it not been for the rapid falls of heavy feet outside the door. Or the harsh words quietly snarled. But still the Beauty remained sleeping as she was, even as the door opened.
Five figures wrapped in thick brown clothing entered. They stopped in a loose line a few feet away from the bed. In the orange light that bathed the room, the gunmetal glowed as they rose their arms carrying death.
This all did not stir the sleeping girl. Her face remained still and fair. Her hair remained beautiful.
It was with simultanious five loud clicks, as five rifles were readied; the so familiar sound finally awoke her.
She immediately rolled away from the figures and off the bed. Not a second later and the sub-machine guns were tearing apart the clean cloth. The soldiers just kept firing into her resting place, very quickly tearing apart the mattress and splintering the wood into peaces.
But by then she was already away, having darted, almost on all fours, around the furniture and towards the assailants.
Her blood was running hot, pumping through her heart so fast that she barely heard anything else. Her mind, so brutally ripped from the restful slumber, went into this most primal of all states. Her eyes saw red, her mouth already tasted the blood and her heart pulsed once.
Charging across the floor towards the firing line, the Monster was unleashed.
Her feet hit the ground hard before catapulting her towards the enemy, right into the center soldier. Two hands wrapped firmly around his throat, using her momentum to make him stumble backwards while also letting her vault over him and clamp to his backside. He chocked, releasing his weapon only to claw futlessly at her hands. His right also went for his knife. But truthfully, his life had already ended.
She did not need a weapon. She was one.
He choked out a scream as her teeth sought out his veins and burried themselves as deep as they could. And they could go very deep. Then he was released only for her to kick herself off his back, aiming his bleeding body towards two of his comrades that only now turned towards the threat.
She surged forward again, going for the pair not blocked by the body of her first kill. Jumping on the chest of the first like a bloodthirsty savage, she slashed her hand towards the other. It hit him in the throat, slicing it open completely. Then her hand rose over the soldier she was straddling.
It happened so fast, he could not react, only see the blade of his comrade glisting with blood. Then it came down on him, stabbing his eyes and then his chest as the sharp metal searched for his heart.
Even as he fell backwards to the floor and coughed up his last breath, she did not relent. Only when the last remaining two opened fire did she stop.
Bullets whirred past her and bit into her flesh, yet she did not succumb to them. Instead, she charged forward again, faster than they could perceive. Then she was inbetween them, ripping a handaxe from the belt of one only to bury it between the other’s legs and dragging the sharpened blade upwards.
He fell to his knees immediately, screaming in pain as his innards spilt out. Therefore, he could not witness as the monster savaged his last comrade, until a loud crack echoed through the room.
Letting the twisted head drop heavily to the floor, the monster turned around to the last of her prey. Her bloodied teeth were bared as her crimson eyes bored themselves in his. She only saw fear and pain…
…and she loved it!
Again, her teeth sank into flesh, drinking in the blood of the mortal that had dared to attack her. His twitching body hit the floor, joining the others in an ever-growing sea of crimson red.
Aria breathed heavily as she closed her eyes. When she opened them, everything changed. Gone was the sleeping chamber so familiar to her real one. The modern façade that was to lull her senses was stripped away, not important anymore. Instead, everything was old, a room from another time.
The window was shattered now, opening her view to the grand city beyond.
A city in flames. A capital under siege, with gruesome battles raging everywhere. Buildings ripped apart by grenades and explosive shells. Streets littered with debris and broken vehicles… and plastered with corpses. Lined by ditches and gullies were the water ran red with blood.
And she could hear it all. A constant staccato of shots from all around, the loud yelling of orders, the grinding of tracks against the ground and the screams of those trying to flee death, or worse.
And she just stood there, taking it all in. Looking down to the street in front of her viewpoint, Aria could see the familiar corpses of her group, gunned down in the streets in a mad dash to a false safety.
It was always the same.
Before she beheld the result of nearly twelve years of preparation and almost six years of bloody warfare. The downfall of a nation. A city dying on the ground, its streets were filled with misery and pain and conflict. She could sense it, see it. A hateful green mist everywhere she looked, like poison gas it choked the streets.
She did not want to look at it anymore. And so, she turned away, from everything and everyone. Most were dead anyway.
Stepping outside of the room, she found herself in a great hall, broken and burning like everything else was. The rows and rows of seats, the podium. She had been in this building, in this very hall when there had been power and decisions had been made. Now it was just another ruin filled with rubble. Rubble, and corpses.
Her feet carried her between them, bodies filled with blood-oozing holes lying everywhere. And then she saw him. Of course, he would lie in the exact spot where she had stood to watch the all too frequent debates. His eyes were still open. The uniform that he always kept spotless, all the stupid insignia he insisted on carrying. Everything like she remembered him.
Slowly she turned on the spot, looking over the enormous chamber. Round and round and round; she began to lift her legs like in a dance, to walk into the middle of the room whilst turning on herself. Singing to herself an old childrens song.
She stopped exactly before the podium and opened her eyes. In every seat, one of the people she had helped and who had given her all these orders, which she had carried out. Like a court, judging her for the crimes she had comitted, as if they could even be counted. A court of corpses.
And behind them… they were there. They were always here.
She had seen them so many times, displayed in so many horrible and cruel ways.
This time, they had been nailed onto the wall, right next to each other. Each had one arm outstretched, making them look a mockery of the eagle that they had replaced.
Their empty eyes were staring as they always did. Hair matted down by blood, skin marred and clothes torn. Throats shredded, causing a similar sting in her own.
Yet, she showed little reaction besides pained saddness. How far had it gone, that her sisters’ defiled bodies was nothing to her anymore. Had she seen them die so many times in her nightmares?
It was always the same.
“ARIA!” Her head snapped around, eyes wide. She knew this voice. But she had never heard it hear, not in this hell.
Aria felt something new, completely foreign in this nightmare. Fear.
There was a door seperating her from the voice, it did not stand against her. The scarred wood splintered under her weight as she threw herself through it with an angry roar.
Immediately she was fired upon. Half a dozen soldiers blocking her way through the narrow corridor and up the small flight of stairs. But they could not stop her, nothing could, not when she had to get to her.
She tore through them in desperate rage, breaking bones and ripping open flesh with her bare hands. She ran past the first chance she got, leaving behind brutalised and torn bodies still clinging to life. She did not care the slightest.
She just ran as fast as she could. Tears were forming in her eyes, threatening to spill out.
Not her! Leave her out of this!
The hallway seemed to stretch, seemingly intend on never letting her arrive and yet suddenly there she was before a slightly opened door. The cries for help mixed with pained screams were almost impossible to bear this close.
Suddenly her back was set aflame. Fire washed over her, searing away her hair and scorching her skin, yet she still whirled around and faced it. One scream, her powerful vocal chords straining against the heat and her front was bathed in light from the fireball exploding in the hallway as the flamethrower combusted.
Biting through the pain, Aria turned towards the door again. She pushed it open, even though back in her mind she knew what would greet her. But she had to take even the slightest chance.
The soldiers turned away from their two victims as she stepped into the room. The demon that had entered was enough to drag their attention away from the savaged bodies littered with small cuts and bruises.
It was seven against one. They thought themselves victor already. In reality, they were dead men walking, only yet to be buried.
The first to die was just jumping off the table. A horrid screech caught him and ripped apart cloth and skin alike, leaving behind a bleeding mess crumbling to the floor.
The second was, just like his predecessor just getting up from the other of the bloodied forms lying on the tables. His end was even swifter though no less brutal than the first or the torment he had granted only moments ago. The burned form was right before him in a dash and just as quick did she slice him open crosswise, leaving him to die.
Third to go was the unlucky soldier about to join the second in their horrid work. The only thing he felt were the two hands gripping the front of his throat before pain overloaded his mind. Gasping for air but only making wet sucking sounds through his open throat, he stumbled back as she was already onto the next.
The rest died as well in quick succession, though they managed to leave more bullets and blades in her flesh.
But then, everything finally died. The only things left to hear; the sound of battle, the screams of the innocent, the bodies she had torn open.
Aria was shaking. Not from the pain, that she could bear. Not from the fight, that she was used to.
No, she was shaking in fear, as she slowly approached the limb body displayed on the blood-soaked wood.
“…d-d…Dawn?” One of her redded hands reached out to the girl.
She was still alive. Aria did not know if that made it better or worse. Because she knew there would be little hope for the abused life in front of her, not here.
Watering eyes wandered to the other table for a moment. She could recognize her as well. Skin so similar to her own, yet a body so small and frail in comparison. She did not understand, why did they have to be here?
This had to be her fault.
And so, Aria broke.
Her head fell down, nestling into the shoulder of her friend. She wept openly, for she had not been able to stop this. Nothing had she done, nothing except further the bloodshed.
The world around her was consumed by darkness, drowning her with the rythmic sound of marching feet and the crackling of fires. The only thing piercing through the symphony of war and death were her strangled, tearful cries.
=o0o=
She bolted upright, gasping through lungs that burned and screamed for air. She could not see for her vision was too blurred. Her hands clawed at her throat madly, trying to get it free even though there was nothing. Yet, she was still choking.
The noises had not stopped, she could clearly hear the screaming, the gunfire, a thousand voices yelling at her. It was overwhelming to her. Her body twisted this way and that way.
“Aria!?” Suddenly she was held still by two hands. Immediately she tried to break them off, instinctively reacting to touch with hostility. But only until she saw the face of the person in front of her, recognizing it immediately.
That cardinal red skin. The frazzled hair that resembled fire. Those calm cyan eyes that looked at her with shock. For but a few moments, the nightmarish visions forced themselves before her eyes and the reality beyond, showing her the young woman covered in blood by a hundred wounds, defiled and tortured.
Aria stopped, stunned for but a few seconds. Her mind cleared up, banishing the image of her abused friend. She fell forward into the arms of the other girl and broke down. Her eyes released a flood of tears into the shoulder she was leaning into.
The siren had only once cried like this, atleast in some centuries’ time. It had not been too long ago, actually. Just like now, someone had been holding her as she cried. Then, she had finally allowed herself to spill her tears in mourning for her sisters. This fact was, however, completely lost on her in her current state. Her mind was filled with nothing but sorrow and pain.
It took minutes until Aria had no tears left to shed and she finally began to calm down. As she became more and more aware of her surroundings again, she was surprised to hear a soft voice singing. It was not the best that she had ever heard and definitely not up to par with the skill of her sisters or herself but, it was soothing nontheless.
She closed her eyes, letting Dawn’s voice sink in. Eventually they seperated from the tight embrace, though both were very tempted to let it stay for just a few more minutes. However, they also knew they could not.
“S-sorry, made a real mess on you.” Aria’s eyes were extremely puffy from all the crying, in fact her entire face had become an interesting red-ish shade that was only now starting to fade away. She was pointing towards the shoulder she had literally cried upon, which was now massively stained from all the tears.
Dawn however responded with a simple smile. “No problem, we can just wash it. What about you, what happened? What kind of nightmare would be this bad?” Despite her smile, her voice was saturated with worry.
The answer to her question did not come immediately. Instead, Aria took her time cleaning first her nose and after that her face with multiple tissues. This was simply for the sake of wasting time, while her mind was panicking, trying to decide what to tell her friend.
“Well…” She finally said, while her thoughts were still running in circles. The problem was that Dawn was smart, and she knew the Siren. After seeing her like this, she would not relent. However, telling her about this, even if it would not change their relationship, she would have to reopen her past and all the pain associated with it.
Then again, they had already gone through some shit. Best to do it now and do it correctly.
“It is a long story.” She said, only now meeting the worried eyes of Dawn. “And I know a place where I can explain it all better than here. It will open in a few hours though, so we would have to wait until then.
Dawn nodded thoughtfully. She carefully stood up from the bed and walked towards the bedroom door. “Alright.” She said. “I will just change and then I will be right back. And then later we will go to that place. Until then, you’re not going to leave my sight.”
And then she was gone already. Aria might have wondered why Dawn was so insistend on watching her, was she really that worried? Or maybe she did not want the Siren to go back on her promise and disappear. But Aria did not wonder that.
“I think, I’d like that.” She just mumbled to herself.
The steel monstrum before them was old, very old; it stood there silently on its pedestal surrounded by fake ground and fake plants and fake soldiers, yet it was very much real. She greeted it with a silent nod, coming to a stand before it. There were not many other visitors in the museum, which worked well in their favor.
Dawn kept silent despite wanting to give her friend a dozen different questions, leading with asking if she was truly alright for the tenth time. So instead, she looked at the small board detailing information to glean maybe a hint of why they were here.
The potential answer was rather worrying, though, sadly, not at all surprising. She had learned enough about the history of this world, more than enough to know a fair share about the last century, and the wars that had raged across the whole world. Generations of political ideals and aggressions, wars, and horrible actions against other people.
It should not be terribly surprising that the Sirens would be involved somehow in this, though the way that Aria had woken up this early morning alluded that it had not been an entirely good time for them either.
They walked to another display near the tank, arriving at a scene of miniature soldiers of two sides fighting in the ruins of a city. The board informed them of the last great battle of one of the major nations in the last world-spanning war, the fall of their capital after their opponents had pushed them back in years of bloody fighting.
Looking at Aria, Dawn was treated to the extremely strange sight, seeing the siren without any mask on her face, letting her emotions be on full display like the museum’s exhibits. And there was a great sadness mixed with a deep pain, yet also shame and guilt, which was extremely surprising for Dawn. Slowly, she let her hand wander towards her friend, hesitantly linking it with Aria’s fuchsia hand.
They stood like this for a few good minutes, taking in all the small details of the miniature battlefield.
“What they don’t show here,” Aria interrupted the silence. “is the people. They were lying everyhwere; couldn’t walk down a street without finding some poor sod who got killed by a stray bullet or grenade. Then again, you could not walk a street without fearing for your own life either.”
Ah, there it was. Dawn’s thumb caressed the back of the siren’s hand comfortingly. It had already been a rather solid guess that the being next to her had been involved more directly in these conflicts, though of course actually hearing it, that she was in a battle as especially brutal as this one, was even more concerning. She thought for a moment of trying to make a question to bring her to elaborate, however she decided against it.
A good decision, as Aria continued on herself to talk about her past life. “I… my sisters were not with me at that time. It is a… we did that sometimes, argue so much that we split up and went our ways. Always found eachother again, after days or weeks. This time it took years.”
She turned and let her eyes wander about the room, at the planes hanging from the ceiling and the other exhibits, clinging for a moment on the tank again. She could name everything here at the top of her head, as well as listing of details on how they actually worked and how they were used.
“It was soon after the first world war. The ‘Great War’ they called, the ‘War to end all Wars’!” She snorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm and bitterness. “Adagio wanted to go here, away from the old world. She thought it was not worth it anymore, I said we should be here, that the aftermath would be our greatest opportunity yet. We argued and I ditched them when they went on the ship across the sea. Let myself drift after that. Soon after, I found myself right in the middle of it all, the great loser nation of the whole thing.”
“That would be the Republic of Weimar? What came out of the Germanian Empire?” Dawn asked. Aria nodded, confirming her guess.
“The financial depressions, the hate, the political conflict, then the pomp and debauchery in between when the economy did not suck for a change. It was really a great time for a strife-loving monster. The poor against he rich, militarists against pacifists, socialists against nationalists; it was a real mud fight. I was doing great!” The melancholy of her smile was spoiled by the pain within it. “My great failure was that I did not see the change in the winds soon enough. Or maybe I did but I didn’t care, because I thought myself above it.”
They walked back in the exhibit, towards the pre-war section. Aria looked at one of the displays, a big photograph of a parade. Her eyes lingered very long on the many flags. She could almost hear them singing again, along the burning of many torches to illuminate the marching by night. Dawn was still holding her hand tightly.
“In hindsight, I want to kick myself for ignoring how fast they came to power. So many thought that the new government would not last, me included, yet they did. And as cuntish as they were, they could be efficient when they wanted to; only one year in power and nobody was able anymore to mount an actually effective opposition against their new nationalist rulers.” She continued to explain.
And her friend fully believed her. Afterall, they were surrounded by the evidence of this ruthless and bloody efficiency as well as the horrible actions that had been committed by the national-socialist government and their followers.
“I assume you did not leave the country for a good reason.” Dawn asked.
“Well, besides what I had already told you… I couldn’t leave.” A deep frown was spreading across Aria’s face, her entire look darkened as she stared at one of the many propaganda posters. “They just didn’t let me.”
She led her friend to a number of textes displayed on a wall that summarized the party's rise to power and eventually complete domination over the entire nation. The siren skimmed over the few paragraphs, her mind adding multitudes of additions and details to it, as well as bringing up many of the countless memories she had from that time.
“It happened when they made a move against the socialist party. I don’t know what caused it; I probably got careless and underestimated all of it. They cornered me in an alleyway in one of the more worker-heavy blocks, about a dozen if I can remember correctly. I could have fought them, would have won probably, but it would have attracted too much attention. I can handle about a dozen thugs even when they have guns, it will just cost me. And then more would have arrived, and that would have been it.” She recounted.
“So, you gave up?”
Aria sighed, rubbing her face once. “Yeeeah.” She said, drawing the out word out. Dawn did not know if this was because she felt ashamed or simply because both of them had woken up rather early today. She also felt unsure which option was actually the better one. “And after that?”
“Well, to cut a lot of talking and careful manouvering short; they suspected me to be a demagoge for the other side, ‘cause they had noticed my feedings in so many pubs and protests. I managed to convince them that I was unaligned and more then willing to work for them. Bit of magic was just enough to help my words ring completely true. And so, I got into their system.” Her hands intertwined as she stared at the floor, eventually turning her eyes in the direction of the historical proggression of the museum’s room, right towards exhibits from the start of the war.
“By the time they started their first invasion, I was just too deep. Or maybe that was what I told myself, I don’t know anymore. Made me officer in their special organizations, made me operate behind their troops to… do whatever they wanted. Was supposed to stamp out resistance.” Aria explained. She almost flinched away when she felt Dawn’s hand grip her own again. The cardinal red girl said nothing, she just wanted her friend to let it all out, and let her know that she was listening.
“It went like that almost the entire war. In the end, the front was pushed so far back that they were defending the capital, with what little they had left. Everything was pulled in, the young, the old, militias, my group too. They didn’t make it, all killed in some street blown to hell; I was captured soon after.” They walked back towards the miniature battle scene. Aria stared absentmindedly into it, she could almost imagine her soldiers lying in one of the streets, blood oozing from the holes riddling their bodies.
“They brought me east, because…” Nervously she bit her lip, looking past Dawn to the left, then to the right. As it would seem, nobody was close enough to them to be capable of overhearing their conversation. A good thing they had come early to the museum. As she continued, Aria spoke in a subdued tone. “They… they knew that I was, let's say an anomaly in this world. So they captured me and tried to study me. Sent me to some sort of research facility. I had to bid my time and use my… gifts very sparingly, but over time I managed to convince them that they had broken me and that I could be turned into an agent of sorts.”
Dawn stared right back at her, eyes growing wider by the minute. She had not expected it all to be this deep. Then something in her head pipped up. Mirrowing Aria’s movements, she got a bit closer to her friend. “You mean you were a spy?”
“More of a special agent, or soldier. Or, I mean, sometimes a spy, I guess.” Aria admitted. She was however surprised by Dawn’s next question.
“Is that where you know Steel Rain from?” The red girl asked.
“… yeeaah.” The siren replied, rubbing her neck somewhat nervously. “But please, never ask him that. It is just, his uncle was a tank gunner in the war and he was there when I had been captured; his father was a rather young political officer and through his uncle got notified of me first. One thing after another and they both got me directed deep into the nation towards their highest secret facilities. And then later on, when I had been elevated to, what they thought, a fully loyal tool… Well at that point Steel Rain’s father had already climbed up ranks and became my overseer of sorts. To better ‘house’ me between very long missions, he worked out to bring me into his home, where I met Steel Rain. That boy grew up with mysterious tales about me that his uncle and his war buddies always told, and then I was living under the same roof as him. We got rather close.”
“Did he know what you were exactly?” Dawn’s question was, thankfully, denied by a head-shake. “And his nickname? I think it was pevun’ya.”
“Ah yes, that.” This time, Aria actually allowed herself to smile, even if just a little bit. “It means Songbird. A nickname that they gave me; I had to work with soldiers a lot, special teams, and they soon started calling me that after I had to use some of my magic. The Songbird of the Night, they named me. Didn't take long before young Steel Rain picked up on it.”
They were approaching the end of the exhibit now, still keeping close to eachother for secrecy, still holding eachother’s hand. “I was under their ‘control’ for many years, doing their dirty work while pretending to be loyal. But, I proved myself reliable enough to slowly get more and more leeway, and make plans for my escape. Proved rather difficult however, since they were sending me all over. One year I was masquerading in the capital, next I am fighting a war in one of their neighbours' front lawn. I even met Steel Rain there again, think his father had a hand in that we got put into the same warzone. Maybe he wanted me to protect his son.”
“Wow. So, how did you escape?” They had exitted the section about the world war by now and were walking through the one committed to the cold war that had followed it.
“My sisters found me.” The siren admitted sheepishly. “Tracked me down while I was operating in another country that was distancing itself from my ‘master’s'. We managed to hatch a plan in secret and basically let my mission be blown, making me Missing in Action. After that we made our way here and from that-“
They were interrupted by a strange string of noises that sounded like a computer was having a seizure. Dawn jumped involuntarily, letting go of her friends hand, who looked only a bit annoyed even though the sound seemed to be coming from her.
“Excuse me, be right back.” Aria said, already turning away and fishing her phone out of the pocket and holding it up to her ear while she was making her way between some exhibits away from the sight of her friend.
“Blaze speaking.” Was all she said into the phone after accepting the call.
It was Twilight. Even without her voice burnt into the siren’s mind, curtesy of the utter shitshow she had witnessed from Canterlot High, she would probably recognize the hesitation and slight stutter anywhere. “A-aria? Is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me.” She had to suppress a snarkier remark. It was the first time Twilight called her since the day they had made the deal, roughly a week ago. This could be important, for multiple possible reasons and any rash answers was more likely to waste more time. “So, why are you calling? Did you get in trouble?”
“No, I uh, found something. You know, the thing that you wanted to me to look into-“
“Stop beating around Twi, just tell me. What did you find?” The older creature interrupted her.
“A-alright.” Aria could hear the other girl wetting her lips nervously. Her free hand was freely moving in circles as she mentally willed the shy nerd to continue. A long and complete lack of any psionic powers rendered it to a simple means for her to remain patient and not snap at her phone.
“I developed a software that, connecting to my equipement at school, I set on this Anon-A-Miss account. It is still there, luckily. Right now, my programm is processing all the posts and tracking their location. Now, almost all of them originate from CHS.” The young scientist explained.
The siren nodded at that, glancing around for anyone who might be listening to her. However, there was still no one interested in her presence, it would seem. “Yeah, makes sense. Lots of people there, lots of cover to act under. Can you tell me from whose devices the posts were made?”
“T-that wasn’t part of our deal! I just had to t-track where they were p-poste-“ Twilight exclaimed, though she was almost immediately interrupted.
“Exactly!” Aria hissed into her phone. “Where they came from. Knowing they came from the school doesn’t help me Twilight! I need to know which devices they used! This person had to slip up at some point. One post, one comment made from their own phone and not some school-computer and I’ll have them! But right now, that doesn’t help me jack shit-“
“T-t-there were o-other posts! Not from t-the school!” Twilight squeaked through the line.
Aria leaned her head back. Bingo! You just had to pressure her a bit and then she would skip to the really important tidbit. She would still bring the nerd to provide her with the hardware of origin. After all, she knew better then to do anything half-measure.
“Speak.” The word rolled off her tongue with undeniable satisfaction. She let herself sound so calm yet predatory just to drive home the importance of this information.
Twilight needed three attempts to compose herself and get the words out properly. But now, she had Aria’s ear for whatever she had found.
“Most posts, and comments, threads, whatever the account did; almost everything comes from the school. But not all. Some are from streets a-and bus lines, so they must have used their phones. But I also have a couple of adresses from where some originated.” She shakingly recounted.
Aria permitted herself a smirk. This was already promising. A good lead on the phones of her soon-to-be victim, as well as potential homes. That or atleast the homes of their friends.
“Can you tell me the adresses?” It was less of a question and more of an order.
“O-one moment.” In her lab, Twilight hesitated. In her hand was a sheet of paper where she had scribbled down the three adresses. She didn’t know who lived there.
She was afraid. First-hand experience had showed her what the mysterious purple girl was capable of. And she was sure that Aria could do even more, and even worse. What if her helping would end to someone being hurt? Or killed?!
Before her mind’s eye, a different figure appeared. Red skin and beautiful fiery hair. A kind smile and clever cyan eyes. While she still didn’t fully know about Aria, she trusted her partner enough. Dawn would hopefully not allow Aria to actually harm someone.
Atleast none that she would not want harmed.
“Ok, I have 22 Hilda Street in Cloudsdale, the Carousel Boutique at Mercury Street and the last one is outside of Canterlot. About a fiveteen minute drive to a farm, I think. Sweet Apple Acres. That is all I got.”
“Alright. That is good. Call me again once you figured out whose phone Anon-A-Miss came from.” She didn’t even give Twilight the chance to protest. “Once you’ve done that, you should start thinking about what I can do to return this little favor. And please don’t be shy, I can handle a lot. Until then.”
Then she hung up. It was a purely tactical decision. It would deny Twilight the opportunity to continue questioning what she still had to do. Instead, she would have to get to work or better, think about whatever she wanted for this. She would think and only reaffirm herself and then she’d get back to work and get them both what they wanted.
Speaking of…
Aria let the adresses course through her brain once more. This was great.
She knew of course who lived there. She and her sisters had gathered whatever information they could get on the Rainbooms. One of those things were the locations of their homes as well as who lived there.
She also knew that the group had hosted sleepovers regularly, before the whole mess really kicked in, so that still kept every single member in the list of suspects. But now, that list was ever so small.
She allowed a full smile to graze her lips. This was going great. Soon, very soon she would have them.
It ringed. Aria opened the door and stared into the, by now, familiar purple face. She looked behind her, then let her eyes pan from the left to the figure and from the figure to the right. Then she returned to stare at her. Still barring the way.
“Hi.” The girl said.
Aria blinked once and then finally let her in without a word, shutting the door closed. Turning around she looked at the new girl again before walking off without a single word. As she left the foyer towards the kitchen, she passed her former roommate, now homemate in a way.
“Morning Twilight!” Dawn exclaimed enthusiastically. “You’re ready for today?”
“Yes, I am.” The purple student replied, letting herself be infected with the other’s enthusiasm. “Is Aria… she is acting a bit strange, did something happen?”
Dawn laughed very sheepishly at that, rubbing her neck with a hand. “Weee, kinda had a bit of a… fight yesterday.” They had argued about her former band again. She didn’t know what had started it, only how it had ended. Aria had talked shit about them, going on about how they had failed and betrayed her. She had gotten angry at that and responded by yelling at the siren. Not long after that and they had seperated to go and calm down in their respective rooms.
Twilight’s eyes were almost as wide as tea saucers. Carefully she looked past Dawn to see if Aria was still there, only to find no trace or sound of the siren. “But-you-that… Does that mean…” She stammered.
“No, don’t worry! Everything is okay, we just had to calm off. She is still a bit rattled because she could not sleep well because of it all.” Dawn tried to assure the mind of her friend. She was only telling half the truth. There was a bigger reason for Aria’s strange activity.
For it had been Dawn who couldn’t sleep well. And when she got up she came near Aria’s room, where she heard worrying sounds from. Indeed, Aria was having another nightmare, very similar to that one night that lead to Dawn learning about the siren’s past.
As she was guiding Twiligt down towards the training room, Dawn took the lead to hide her already red cheeks darkening a little as she remembered last night. Still in a state of fuzzy sleep-deprivation, she had naturally worried for her friend regardless of their early fight, wanting to help her. So, with the rationale that only those not entirely in their functional mind can have, she had crawled into the bed and under the cover, snuggling up next to her twisting friend and wrapping her arms around her. Soon, she lost herself in her own slumber.
Aria’s current detached state was more likely an after-effect of waking up being cuddled by her friend in her bed. Which was still surprising, considering it was Aria Blaze. It often seemed like the ancient siren could never be surprised, shrugging off everything with a smirk and snarky remark. Yet, when her sleep-dazed mind had fully realized who was laying right next to her, she had frozen up completely. Dawn, who had been stirred by the awakening of her friend, had looked up to see the siren starring down at her like that.
She would probably never forget that expression. Confusion mixed with absolute shock in a brain that was too slow to fully process everything, leaving the body with the mouth hanging open. Dawn had to suppress giggling about the mental image again.
Luckily, they had arrived on the basement level, so she could stop thinking about Aria’s funny, and somewhat cute, reactions by focusing on the training. The purple siren had suggested it as something they could do together, sometime before they had visited the museum. Twilight had already met with them a couple of times, though at these meetings she had stayed mostly close to Dawn. Which was understandable. It still made Dawn happy to see that the young scientist was actually starting to open up to them, to a varrying degree atleast. And surprisingly the work-outs were proving an excellent medium for that.
At some point, Twilight had explained to her that she was likely to be chosen by her school for an upcoming competition. Ironically named the ‘Friendship Games’, a contest would be held between Crystal Prep and Canterlot High. Each school would assemble a team to compete in both theoratical and physical challenges, and Twilight was almost certainly part of her school’s team. It didn’t seem to Dawn like the frail would-be scientist had any say in the matter.
This did explain her determination though, for no matter how exhausted Twilight got, and she got exhausted fast, she still tried to push herself just a bit further. Still, she just couldn’t keep up with Dawn, and Aria was literal ages out of her reach. There was progress, slow but steady, partially helped with Aria making them strong meals afterwards.
Every session was hard and exhaustive, and this day was of course no exception. Once Aria had arrived she quickly fell back into her role as the impromptu trainer, setting the regimen and spurring them onwards relentlessly.
They were going at it for two hours straight before stopping, which was an improvement. The first time, they had not even gotten one hour done before Twilight had to tapp out.
“You two can take a break if you wanna. I’ll take a walk outside.” Aria declared as she got up and walked out of the training room. Dawn waved after her, still panting, while Twilight was laying down onto the bench, still struggling to normalize her breathing.
“Don’t burn everything down!” The lady of the house called out before she left through the front door.
Taking a deep breath, she let herself enjoy the fresh air for a moment, before opening her eyes again and making her way towards her destination.
It was time for yet another check-up.
Some would say that irregularly visiting three separate homes, stalking and standing around them for hours in a hope to catch up some sort of useful information, was an unreliable way to go about it. And Aria would agree, having more than enough experience in this sort of thing. However, she simply did not have the time for more than that; there was only so many times that one could go out ‘for a walk’ before others got suspicious, and there was only so long you could be away before ‘a walk’ was not a valid excuse anymore. Secondly, and however stupid it might be to rely on it, Aria had had coincedentially helpful circumstances quite frequent recently. Better to do something sporadically and hope for luck than nothing at all.
Finding out who was behind all that mess was too important to do nothing.
The Carousel Boutique was currently closed. Not that Aria would have desired to buy anything there, not by a longshot. In fact, this was more to her benefit, since now she had a better chance of catching her target in privat. There were only two people living here. The store owner and her younger sister, Rarity and Sweetie Belle.
It had been roughly the same with all three locations that Twilight had forwarded to her. One member of the ‘Rainbooms’ was living there with their family, but that was not the only similarity. Sweetie Belle and the younger sister of the farmgirl, one Apple Bloom, were regularly meeting with a young girl that was living in the same building as the overly-impulsive athlete of the band, a girl that was very close with said athlete.
Not necessarily important, unless one knew what Aria did. That from all three locations, those in the city had roughly the same amount of posts, while the farm had more than the other two combined. Which was certainly strange until one found out that these three girls had their own little club complete with a club house, which was incidentally located on the farm grounds.
But surely, these were kids, their older siblings/friends were more likely candidates… except, they were not.
This was simply because, when Aria had gone over the Anon-A-Miss debacle itself, she had quickly realized something. It had started secrets and photos specifically about the Rainbooms; from what she had been able to gather by talking with Dawn and subtly navigating the conversation to said events, it appeared that the entire group had made a slumber party at one of their member’s homes. Which provided several crucial clues.
First of all, unless the culprit was a rather good hacker which was unlikely since Twilight had no trouble finding the origin of the posts, they would have been there. So, the suspects were any of the band and any family member that lived with them. Only problem was that Aria could not find out where the parties had taken place without risking Dawn figuring her plans out.
Second of all, every member of the Rainbooms was practically excempt from her list of potential culprits. Not just because they were the first to be targeted. It would have been a decent tactic, to make oneself the first victim to divert suspicion, the problem was why? There was no reason that sprung to Aria’s mind that required such actions that couldn’t be made without it too. Except to sever ties with Dawn, or rather Sunset Shimmer.
However, from all that she had heard, there was no reason for them to do that either. In fact, everything had gone great for them after the… Band Battle Shitshow. There had been enough trust to make such actions wildly out of character.
Unless of course, Sunset turned out to revert back to the manipulative queen of Canterlot High, who had tormented each of the Rainbooms in a different way. That would be enough reason to properly destroy this friendship. Aria was glad that she had been alone when this thought crossed her mind, for she had burst out laughing for a solid minute. As simple as the plan was and as flawed as it was for relying on the stupidity and impulsiveness of the entire student body, it had proven to work quite effectively. She was almost impressed. Almost.
So, the culprit’s goal was most likely to bring Sunset down, specifically to tear her away from her newfound friends, as proven by the first posts. Thusly her targets where people close to each Rainboom member of whom she had the adress, that wanted to get rid of Sunset.
And that was not a long list, unfortunately not an easy one to choose from either. The family of the athlete, Rainbow Dash, was too straightfoward for such a thing, also her father worked with the police, too unlikely. With the other two, Rarity and Applejack the farmgirl, they both had no parents present. Applejack lived with her old granny, obvious pass on her, and her older brother. Rarity, she already knew, only lived with her younger sister, her parents out of town almost always.
So, she had the stoic older brother and three young girls as the only potential targets, atleast until Twilight finally gave her actual names. Speaking of…
Little Sweetie Belle had just left her home, to go and meet with her friends, and Aria was only too happy to follow her to the meeting point. Standing in the bushes near an open window so she could hear into the building was certainly not the most entertaining thing to do, unless something interesting happened inside. And considering that the resident seamstress was in yet another meditation & relaxation meeting with the butter-coloured shygirl, nothing good was going to happen anytime soon.
Tailing the young white girl was a literal child’s game for her, especially when the kid put earbuds in to listen to some music. Still, even with chances of her gaining any suspicion being practically zero, Aria had started to put some extra effort into keeping subtle and undercover. It felt strange to be back doing this after several decades, pursuing a child for such, admittedly minor reasons, compared to her targets long ago. But in another way, it felt good to flex that particular ability ingrained in her mind and body.
It also helped that she already knew the route they were walking. Straight towards the nearest bus stop, and then wait for the next ride that would take one to the stop near Sweet Apple Acres.
There were not many people taking a bus this far out from the city, usually other farmers or such. Even then, not once had Aria received a direct glance or any sign that she was arousing suspicion, and never once had she been really noticed by those she was trailing.
The, in contrast, hardest part was yet to come, however. Incidently it was the part that required Aria to put in the earnest of efforts, and thus the most enjoyable part for the siren.
Quietly she followed Sweetie Belle through the massive achres towards the club house, stepping carefully yet quickly to keep track but also quiet. This was different than casually following someone in the city; if she was caught here, she would be in serious trouble, trespassing and stalking someone, not helped by the fact that the people here would already be badly inclined towards her.
But nobody saw her, and she didn’t even have to resort to using her magic. Finally, the clubhouse appeared between the countless trees, an animated discussion evidencing that the other two members of the club were already here. Aria stopped and waited for a moment, letting Sweetie Belle enter the house and close the door, before she took position underneath one of the windows. She could follow their words well enough.
Whatever the kids talked about, Aria had soon forgotten about it for it had been unimportant and boring. That was the sobering truth, ninety-five percent of what you heard when eavesdropping was useless small-talk or trivial things, the art was to tune it out and keep your ears open for the important stuff.
She could have used her magic of course to try and bring the kids to confess. Would have been much easier to do so than trying to listen in and pick up something that would prove her correct. However, it wasn’t that simple, atleast for her. This world was still starved of magical energy and she had already used fair amounts when Dawn had awoken and after that when they had gone to the police to give Twilight an aliby for skipping school.
Unless she found atleast one of them in a position where it would be easier to bring them to talk, using her magic would be costly in terms of energy. She had enough in her to probably do it, but it would leave her nearly empty, something she wanted to avoid. One can never know what might just happen, so it was best to have good reserves available.
And it wasn’t like she was in a rush at the moment, so she could afford preserving her magic in favor of these more classical approaches and maintain her reserves for when it was really necessary. One didn’t survive for centuries without contingencies.
“Rarity has been doing better recently. She is meeting often with Fluttershy, doing things together. Lot of meditation, or they talk about things.” Sweetie Belle told her friends. Then her voice dropped, a sadness creeping in. “They’re both still coping with eachother. It’s… I can’t stay in the house very long when they do that, it… it just hurts to see Rarity so sad when they talk, or when F-fluttershy starts to shake again.”
The other one, Scootaloo, shuffled around, likely getting next to her friend. “I know, Rainbow always goes on about how weak Fluttershy still is, she constantly fears something is going to cause her breaking down again.”
“Dunno how I could live with it if somethin’ happened to her. It would be our fault, ultimately.” The young farmgirl, Apple Bloom, muttered.
Bingo! I knew I was onto something! Aria thought to herself, perking her eyes to capture every single word.
“The worst part is… we got lucky. We could have lost our sisters so easily.” Sweetie Belle told the others. “Apple Bloom, you told us how Applejack had behaved after Suns-after she passed away. She managed to get a hold of herself again but, it is frightening to think how easily she could have lost control of it all. A-and Rarity… I, I was afraid whenever I woke up and didn’t hear anything in the house that she…” And that point Sweetie choked on her words, not able to complete what she was about to say. More shuffling could be heard and soon one of the other children was softly telling her that everything was right, intermingled with light sobbing.
“I still get nightmares sometimes. That I wake up and… she is just gone. Or just lying on the ground.” She almost whispered.
“All that because we made that stupid account. I wish I could go back in time and punch myself.” Scootaloo grumbled.
“I’m with ya, Scoots, but sadly we can’t.” Apple Bloom replied somberly. “Just gotta keep moving forward.”
Down on the ground, Aria allowed herself a smile, she had heard more than enough. It had paid off at last, all those hours standing next to open windows and listening to asinine conversations. Now, she had proof of who had been behind all this. Now she could focus on getting a full confession from the little turds. And then, her vengeance for her friend.
Silently, she began to move away from the clubhouse, though as she reached the safety of the apple trees an idea wormed itself into her head. It was too good to pass up. And so, getting on her knees, Aria quickly gathered three decent-sized stones. She got into position and listened once more. The kids were still talking, not having noticed anything.
Inside the clubhouse, the three young girls’ conversation was stopped as something impacted the side of the small building with a loud thud. All three stared for a moment at the wall from where the sound had originated, then looking at eachother with wide eyes.
“Sh-shouldn’t we stay inside?” Sweetie Belle asked, as her two friends both got up and rushed to the door. She only kept sitting for a few more seconds before running after them, curiosity paired with the fear of being left alone outweighing her caution.
Yet as the group were now standing outside, looking at the wall where the noise had come from and scanning the ground, they could find nothing. Apple Bloom scanned the trees surrounding them, yet she saw no movement.
“Maybe it was a bird and it has already flown aw-“ She said before being interrupted, as another thud echoed through the achre, this time from the other side of the clubhouse. All three girls jumped at the sudden noise.
Cautiously, they stepped around, their eyes darting around wildly. Yet again, there was no sign of anything, not on the ground, not in the trees, nowhere. It didn’t help that it was slowly starting to get dark.
“How about we go to my house?” Applebloom proposed, keeping the fear from creeping into her voice as much as possible. The other girls nodded and so, they rushed inside the clubhouse again to grab their things. Scootaloo had just picked up her scooter, sharing a nod with her two friends as…
Thud!
This time, it had come from the door.
The girls stared at it. Looks were thrown out of the windows for signs of, well anything really. But nothing, just as the other times. There was only one way out. They had to try it.
Carefully, Apple Bloom approached the door, holding an ear against it for a moment. She could hear nothing on the other side. Looking back, her two friends right behind her and reaffirming her, she pushed down the door handle.
Slowly, very slowly, the door was opened, granting more and more of the view outside. Three sets of eyes were wide open, looking fearfully for whatever was lurking here. It felt like months, if not a few years had passed, until the door would not open further.
The three girls stood there in the door frame, each having her heart beat right up into the throat, awaiting the next sudden sound, or worse, something striking one of them.+
But nothing. The apple trees quiet and peaceful.
“L-let’s just g-g-go.” Scootaloo said, shaking slightly as she descended the small stair case, the others followed her quickly.
Picking up the pace they almost ran towards the Apple family house. Their silent observer did not follow them. She had listened enough and she had had her fun for tonight.
Aria casually made her way back through the achres, quietly humming to herself. The little game had certainly lifted up her already good mood considerably. Things were moving forward.
When Aria returned to her house, her face had not changed at all. She smirked as she parked her bike in the garage, just like she smirked while casually strolling the front door. Only when she entered did she change her expression, so as to not give away her newly found secret.
Twilight’s shoes were still at the door, so they must still be somewhere. Depending on how long the young girl planned to stay, she might have to cook for three people. It had been a while since she did that…
With a rapid shake, Aria interrupted that line of thought. She did not want to have her good mood ruined by getting sentimental again. She focused on listening into the house, trying to get a sense of where the two were right now. Standing completely still in the hallway, she perked her ears attentively. After a minute she opened her mouth partly and played with her vocal cords for a moment, before sending a few pulses into the halls of her home.
There they were! Casually, she began to make her way towards the basement. Apparently, they had continued with training even after she had left already. The door downwards was shut, which allowed only a fraction of her pulse waves to make it through. However, Dawn’s aura was more than familiar to her by now, and it had only become easier to pick up since the girl’s magic had been ‘awakened’ again.
She was already making her way down the stairs when the door to the training area opened up and her friend stepped through.
“I felt that, the… wave thingy that you do.” Dawn told the siren straight up, though she was keeping her voice down for some reason.
Aria raised both her eyebrows at that, stepping down the last stairs and standing right in front of the red girl. “Interesting.” She replied. “Though I should not be that surprised I suppose. Also why are you so quiet.”
Instead of an answer, Dawn simply gestured to something in the training room. Sticking her head inside, Aria could plainly see Twilight’s limp body resting on one of the benches that had been somewhat polstered with towels. A thin blanket had been draped over her. She could also her light breathing; the young scientist was actually sleeping.
“She laid down for but a moment and next I know she is snoozing already.” Dawn recounted, not able to keep an amused smile off her lipps. Carefully she closed the door to let Twilight have her nap. Turning to her friend again she clasped her hands behind her back.
“Aria, I thought about it. And I don’t think you will like it…” Dawn said almost in a formal way.
Whatever trace of a smile had been forming on Aria’s face, it vanished immediately. There was only one thing that Dawn could be talking about it, after she had very intendly ended the question of wether or not pursuing revenge.
Spring was starting to set in, you could see it everywhere. It was getting warmer, to the point that people did not need their thickest and heaviest mantles and coats to stay warm anymore. There were still days when one had to mind chilly winds coursing through the streets, and it would be like this for some time, but people were accustomed to that. And many were welcoming the change in season by going outside and happily greeting others.
None more so than an extremely energetic and enthusiastic girl, standing before a finely made marble statue. She was humming a joyful tune to herself, bouncing up and down though her feet did not leave the ground. She was waiting for someone.
Finally, the surface of the stone pedestal, that the equine-shaped statue was residing on, started to ripple and contort. A light glow began to spread across its surface and moved strangely. The girl did not seem perturbed by this at all. Instead, she took one step closer to the statue and spread her arms wide, smiling brightly as she did.
Then, the stone surface twisted and turned. From it something emerged, a mass of light detaching itself from the solid marble. It became bipedal, humanoid, took on form and detail, and finally assumed colour. All this happened in only a miniscule fraction of a second, and by the end of it, a relatively-normal looking human stumbled from the statue and straight into the waiting girl’s arms.
“HIIIIIII Twilight!” Pinkie squealed happily, holding the newly arrived equestrian tightly, both because she had missed her and was genuinely happy to see her, and to prevent her falling to the ground.
Afformentioned Twilight had to take a moment to let the sudden change in body and orientation sense that always came with a portal trip take its course. “Hello Pinkie. Thank you for the catch.” She mumbled, carefully setting her feet firmly upon terra firma and straightening her back and getting on eye-level with the pink party planner.
“It’s good that you visit us again.” Pinkie said, though it was more subdued than her typical overly happy tone.
I am here because of the sirens. That was what Twilight almost told her, but she held it back. It was too hurtful to tell Pinkie, that she was here only for business and had no want to visit them, even if it might be true and the other girl already knew it. The fact was simply, Twilight did not know how to re-establish her friendship with this world’s version of her closest friends. She had been avoiding the question, and them, for some time now, distracting herself with other projects and problems.
The sudden message that one of the sirens wanted a parlay was too great to ignore however. She briefly entertained the notion of not going, citing for excuse the likelyhood of it being a trap. But in the end, she had simply given an affirmation and when she would have enough free time to cross the portal.
They were to meet in the Crystal Emporium at a certain spot. Somewhere where they could talk in privacy but still public enough to force them to keep it peaceful. Pinkie was to drive her there and take her back after the meeting had ended, during which she would stay at a respectful distance.
Having Pinkie Pie as her only backup was not the best choice, but in her mind, it still outweighed meeting the rest of the group and getting them into all this. Maybe this was a stupid idea and maybe she should overcome her irrational and petty urge to keep them away, but right now Twilight did not care about that.
The drive was silent. Which was unusual considering who the driver was, but understandable if one knew of the circumstances. Upon entering the Emporium, Pinkie guided her to the spot. Two benches facing eachother in a small alcove, a place where customers could rest and enjoy a short break from the ever-moving mass of people.
As they slowly approached, they could already make out two figures. Both had hoods over their head, sitting in the alcove, acting like they were quietly talking to themselves. Looking at them, Twilight’s stomach turned. Something was suspicious here. The note that she had received had only mentioned one of the sirens, Aria Blaze. Of course, it would have been stupid to expect deceitful creatures like them to keep to their word and come alone to this meeting. However, it would have made more sense for all three to arrive, not just the one who had contacted her. Yet only two were here.
Granted, all kinds of possibilities would explain such. The most concerning being that the third member was either setting an ambush here or using the meeting as a cover to do something bad somewhere else. Unluckily for them, Twilight had prepared as well. There were guards posted at her side of the mirror, among them Starlight Glimmer, all of whom had protocols designed by her to counter everything she knew about the sirens. If they tried to escape this world or steal from her, it would most likely fail.
Twilight pulled at the thick gloves covering her hands to straighten them out. Beneath them, she could feel the smooth metal and the small gems adorning them. She had enchanted the metal gloves herself, a hybrid in their design. It would store additional energy and provide several chosen spell matrixes for her to use, which would make them faster and cheaper to cast. These ones held about a dozen spells she had chosen for if the wielder would get into trouble and had to defend themselves. In Equestria, these would be a useful boon to any caster. Here, in a world devoid of magic, where creatures such as herself could rely only on their own reserves without many means to replenish, the only thing she lacked was actual combat experience.
The young princess frowned grimly as she neared the meeting place, chipper party planer behind her, and saw the two figures standing up. As she got closer, one of them pulled back their hood. She would have recognized her anywhere, as all three sirens were ingrained in her mind.
“I’m surprised, Sparkles. I would have thought that you would bring your entire brigade instead.” Aria spoke, her voice laced with her usual mix of sarcasm and anoyance. “Of course, I also thought you wouldn’t come at all.”
“Well, I am here now. You wanted to talk, we can do that.” Twilight responded curtly. Angling her right hand to be partially concealed behind her back while also looking casual, she made a few quick hand motions. As expected, the two figures that had waited for her went alight to her activated thaumatic-sensing spell, although she noted that their magical signiatures were completely different to eachother. Something to note for later. More importantly, there were no other pings in her reach, which would encompass most of the mall and surrounding city. The third one was not here.
Aria chuckled. Suddenly, Twilight felt like a big animal had exhaled it’s warm breath over her whole body. Her forehead, her hands and her veins tingled for a moment before it all passed after not even a second. Not so powerless after all. She cursed in her head. Her scan was too obvious; does she think she can threaten me like this?
“Would you look at that. The princess of friendship, coming to a peaceful conversation armed for a fight.” Aria said smugly. Then she raised her open hands in a placating gesture as the princess in front of her lowered her head in a scowl. “Not meant to offend you, your highness. Honestly, I would have been disappointend if you didn’t arrive prepared, much less armed to the teeth. Not that you are going to need any of that today, of course.”
“And you expect me to trust you, siren? If you really want a peaceful talk, then how about you tell me where your other sister is first!” Behind Twilight, Pinkie audibly took in a deep breath, face contorting as if she’d just realized she had brought the completely wrong party present. The other hooded figure now also stood up. Stepping beside the siren she placed a hand on Aria’s shoulder, who however just brushed it off.
“You’re right, you cannot trust me. As for my sisters…” The fuchsia girl’s calm was strained, yet she managed to keep her voice level. Stopping in the middle of the sentence, she seemed to think for a moment before her partner whispered something to her. Nodding, she redirected her eyes back to Twilight, a gleam of crimson visible for just a moment. “…don’t worry about them. They can’t make themselves any real problem to you. As for talking, you will do that with her.”
Twilight looked on in surprise as Aria Blaze passed beside her, motioning to Pinkie to follow. The two walked away from the small aclove towards a nearby food court, close enough to oversee the meeting yet far enough to be out of eavesdrop-range. The princess was still looking after them as the other person removed her hood. Turning around towards her, Twilight was greeted with a young woman with cardinal red skin and hair that combined red and streaks of…
“Who are you?” Her stance was tensed, her hands almost curled into fists. “Do we know eachother?”
Her opponent dwelled on that question for a few seconds before linking eyes with Twilight, showing her clear cyan irises. So similar…
“I actually don’t know if we could say that, Princess. My name is Dawn Fire.” She bowed forward. “I’m the actual reason for why you have been called here. Apologies for the little trick Aria and I pulled and lying about why you were needed here, we just wanted to make it a little surprise.”
Dawm gestured for the princess to sit down in the alcove, taking her own seat on the opposite side again. Twilight hesitated, looking the other girl up and down, over and over again. Eventually, she sat down.
There was silence between them, as the purple girl’s face furrowed more and more, subconsciously her body was leaning forward until she was almost in Dawn’s face.
Then, suddenly, Twilight’s eyes widened as she recoiled. Slowly, her eyes roamed once more over Dawn, her face going slack and her mouth hanging slightly open. It felt like a wound in her heart suddenly ripped itself open. The way this girl spoke, like they knew eachother, her hair, her eyes… It was nonsensical, surely someone would have noticed before her, even if not, she had been confirmed dead. But, there was always a chance…
“S-sun-set?” She whispered, almost choked out, with lips trembling and the first tear already starting to form, yet her voice held absolute certainty.
“H-hey Twilight. Sorry it had to be this way. I’m he-“ Dawn was stopped right then and there as the other girl pretty much tackled her, wrapping her arms around the admittedly larger girl, and burying her head in the cardinal, red-skinned shoulder. It was all that Dawn could do by holding the princess, who was pressing them together with all her strength as if fearing her old friend to suddenly disappear. She had anticipated a reaction like this, the only question was how long Twilight would need to compose herself again. Thankfully, they would have more than enough time, Aria and Pinkie would make sure of that as well as their privacy.
“I… I am sorry for the whole mess. It must have been awful when you heard about it. Did… did you tell m-Celestia?” Dawn more or less mumbled into Twilight’s ear. Strangely enough this seemed to rattle the princess, as she ended the hug to apoint her friend presumed-dead with a serious glare.
“I want to know what happened.” She said sternly, whiping away her tears and putting a strength into her voice to hide the fear and desperation in her eyes. Dawn could understand. She herself would’ve been even more paranoid if a long-lost friend suddenly turned up again, changed and by the side of one of her enemies. Twilight feared what this could mean, what forces were responsible for bringing her back from death. Considering everything, she was absolutely right.
Dawn almost wanted to lie, change the truth even for a few things; she wanted to spare Twilight some more worries, she thought about glossing over her violent re-awakaning, most of all she did not want to retell how Aria had somewhat guided and used her to test her own theories.
But she knew how dangerous it was to keep secrets. She didn’t want her reunification with Twilight Sparkle be sullied by lies and hidden truths. She wanted, no she needed her trust, now maybe more than ever before. Which was why she laid it all out, thankful that she had already gone over all the events several times in her mind before the meeting, when she was undecided on what to tell and what not. Thusly, she was ably to mostly bring a clean line of events.
How everything started with the disaster at school. The whole incident she, mercifully, had only to bring a short version of her own. Princess Twilight knew enough, and neither wanted to think more than necessary about the whole mess.
There were few words from the purple girl as Dawn explained the cause of her violent change, all the details and influences that had contributed to it. No words, but a few nods as no doubt the princess’ intellectual mind was verifying her accounts and thinking about its possibility. There was a sour expression when Twilight learned how her own element, and the combined force of harmony, had caused a substantial part of the damage.
Quickly, Dawn went over to recalling the time after she had drifted ashore from the river, mind empty of memory and completely new to the world. She explained the daze of her first hours in an attempt to, atleast temporarily, distract Twilight from thinking about her element’s and her friend’s fault in all this. She didn’t want her to be angry on anyone.
It seemed to work, for now, as Twilight was listening very intently to Dawn’s account of her meeting with Aria. However, the red girl slowly grew concerned as she observed obvious signs of her opposite’s dislike of what she was hearing. Most notably when Dawn went on explaining about Aria’s subtle tests. Which was partly why she tried to hurry and get over that part. However, she also had to talk about the culmunation of it, and thus the part she probably hated the most.
Dawn still had not forgiven herself for almost killing Aria, not completely anyway and maybe she would always have that tiny part of guilt inside of her heart. One could of course say that it caused her to try and stay away from revenge and violence, a good thing obviously, but that did not mean that she had to forget what could have been one of her gravest mistakes in life. Killing the one person who had been her friend in the last weeks…
She told Twilight this too, eyes drifting downwards unintentionally. Was she ashamed to confess this to the Princess who had tried to redeem her? Who knew. It felt good though, to finally share her actions and the subsequent guilt with someone who could maybe understand.
And it appeared the princess was not angry with her, as a lavender hand gently grasped her’s.
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked carefully.
Dawn did not reply immediately, instead she pressed her eyes shut, forcingly clearing her head from all those thoughts and snippets of shame and guilt. Looking up again she gave a smile, although it was somewhat tainted by a slight sadness she could not suppress.
“I am fine now. Just don’t like thinking about it a lot, that is all. We were lucky that it did not go too far, when I imagine how things could have ended…” Dawn shuddered before righting herself again. “Thankfully, there hasn’t been much interesting happening since then, except maybe that we found someone rather interesting.”
Telling someone that you met their counterpart of another dimension sure was a good distraction and way to change the subject in a conversation. Twilight very quickly put any thoughts regarding the almost-tragic-murderer in front of her aside in favor of getting any information about her own human doppelganger, asking about a dozen things in the span of a couple of minutes.
Dawn oblieged as best as she could keep up with the princess, quickly reassuring her that the human Twilight was not yet keen on too many details about magic and Equestria, as far as they knew. A status that both knew could not be maintained for long. It took the princess a bit to come to terms with the fact that close knowledge had escaped out of her control, yet she had to accept it for now. For better or worse, this earth’s Twilight Sparkle was the charge of Dawn and Aria. The best the princess was able to do, without interfering directly and thus triggering a cascade of unwanted discovery and questions, was giving her opinion on the matter.
In the end, they agreed on letting the human Twilight access to the true knowledge about Equestria and the nature of its two denizens currently residing in this city. However, this would be a gradual process, and princess Twilight made sure to stress how careful they had to be. Give the human too much too fast and she might run off and experiement in mad curiosity and lust for scientific discovery. So, habituation process it was.
“There is one more thing that I would like to do.” Twilight said as she slowly peeled off one of her gloves.
Dawn gave the enchanted metal glove an appraising look, nodding her head as she did. “Beautiful work, your’s I assume?”
“Indeed.” Twilight said, not able to prevent a slight blush from grazing her cheeks. “T-these act as energy storages as well as holding spell matrices for easy use. If you’re okay with it, I would like to use them to make a few scans on you.”
“Your body must have changed when you reanimated; from all you told me it sounds like they were significant too. I just want to check and make sure there are no problems.” She added as the red girl made an unsure frown.
Dawn thought for a moment, before taking of her coat and forcibly relaxing herself. “Alright, fine. No help in putting that off I suppose.”
Taking off her other glove as well, after quickly checking that their privacy was still maintained by Pinkie and Aria, Twilight leaned forward so that she was only a handslength away from Dawn. Muttering under her breath, she let her will activate the gauntlets. Immediately she was overcome by the, extremely satisfying, sensation of the power of magic.
Keeping herself composed, her mind swiftly went through all the spells ingraved in the gauntlets, picking out those she needed and combining them with practised ease. The stored energy and her own wellspring were more than enough to run a thorough scan of Dawn’s entire body for multiple separate factors and other important things.
Staring intendly in concentration, the princess let her magical energy flow into her spellcraft until everything was ready, before setting it all on the person sitting right in front of. Dawn’s body shuddered as the web of scans and thaumatic waves flowed around and through her. It was hard to describe the feeling; a mixture of vibrations and the feeling of fresh air blown at her, and in her. A sensation so strange that, even though she tried her best to sit still, her body suddenly began to twitch or stiffen up in some places.
It was because of those efforts to keep her own body in place that Dawn did not pay much attention to the princess opposite of her. Said princess, who almost slipped up with her concentration.
Though in her defense, who would have exptected to see their opposite’s skin moving on its own?
She could spot small ripples moving across Dawn’s arms and necks, her mind confirming that these waves were caused by her own magic. No not caused, the skin was reacting to it. Focusing on all of her spells and their output, a picture began to slowly form in Twilight’s mind.
On a base level, Dawn seemed to be in perfect health. No injuries or diseases, more importantly there were also no malformations or mutations as far as the princess could discern. Everything seemed to be normal. Seemed to be, unless one looked closer.
Letting her magic dissipate, Twilight leaned back and released a breath she had unconsciously been holding. Opposite her, Dawn shook her head a couple of times before blinking, feeling her body’s odd behaviour abating again.
“Is that, whatever that was, normal?” She asked the princess, rubbing her neck where it felt itchy.
“No, normally it is not. But I think, I know what it means… atleast I have some ideas.” Twilight put her hands together before her mouth, pondering and thinking for almost a full minute.
“Now, I am not a hundred percent sure about this, I don’t have any reference material here. I would say it to be very likely, but not completely certain.” Carefully she took one of Dawn’s red hands in her own. “Princess Celestia has recently giving me access to old books from before the War of the Night, speaking about old and esoteric arcane practices and disciplines. One of them in particular described a specific form of biomancy, that is magic performed with and through biological matter. There are some sub-disciplines, but I think the one closest to your current situation would be…”
Placing a finger single finger on Dawn’s palm, Twilight let her magic flow once again. This time however, it was a completely different spell, or rather an impromptu combination of several spell matrices and theories from both the gauntlet and her own mind.
It was supposed to be a mixture of illusion with a small part transmutation magic, if successful it would let her hand appear slightly bigger, with longer fingernails and skin the shade of azure blue. The transmutation part was standard practice if you wanted the illusion to feel like the real thing, though an experienced person could tell the difference with ease. There were two important parts about this cast, however. For one, Twilight made the, admittedly small, effort to let the matrix appear above her own hand. A thin circle of vibrant light, crossed through with lines and countless runes, all for Dawn to see and recognize, which she easily did. Then there was the most important thing about this spell: Twilight had expanded just enough energy to create the matrix and let it be displayed, and just enough to direct it through her finger into Dawn’s hand. She had not expanded any energy for the spell to actually happen.
It was a test, the answer of which could all but completely confirm her suspicion. And as it seems, she was right, for the hand began to change. Dawn starred at her own hand in confusion as it began to cribble just under her skin, skin that was starting to grow darker and darker in tone. She could feel her muscles beginning to swell, her finger nails pressing outwards from her fingers. Slowly, her hand was growing, the skin brightening out from the dark purple it had assumed to a more pleasant shade of azure blue.
“…Seems I was correct. Carnemancy, flesh magic.” Princess Twilight said with a glint in her eyes.
“F-flesh magic?!” Dawn held her transformed before herself. She had read the matrix of course, which made this even crazier! This was supposed to be an illusion, yet it was not. Her hand had physically changed, she had felt it, felt how it had changed in colour.
She herself had never made it so far to actually read about Carnemancy, only catching the term in a few volumes about other topics, including one ancient account. This particular one she remembered as she saw her transformed appendage. There had only been a couple paragraphs about this kind of magic and their wielders, painting a picture of shamans transforming their bodies at a whim, healing lethal wounds on themselves or even others with ease or sprouting scaley hides, claws and viscious teeth for combat.
Another book sprung up in her mind, this one more recent than the others, as she had read through it not long before her falling out with her mentor. A book that had detailed about restricted and forbidden arts of magic, and flesh magic was listed in it. Obviously, not much about the actual magic theory was in that volume, however it had stated very clearly why Carnemancy was restricted. Detailing in few words the ability of the caster to have total control over their own and others very body, thusly able to twist them at will or even rip them apart from the inside out.
And now, apparently, this kind of magic was a part of her. Wordlessly she sunk back into her seat, staring at Twilight.
“T-that… that is bad, right?” She all but whispered. “That is illegal magic, right? Which means, I’m-“
At this point the princess interrupted her, putting one hand on Dawn’s shoulder and another on the transformed one. “Calm down. You’re not in trouble, I can assure that. Technically speaking, you yourself didn’t use it, so you could not even be convicted over it. Also, Carnemancy is classified as Confidentally Restricted Magic . That means you are allowed to study it under certain parameters and official oversight.”
“Alright, that is… good to know I guess.” Dawn said, sighing in relief. Then she held her now blue hand in front of her eyes again, feeling the grown muscle. “B-but, what does that mean? I mean, what is this?”
“Your body, for lack of an official name, it has changed its anatomy so to be more influenceable by magic. You noticed what happened when I made the scans, your body reacted to them. I think it is because you do not have total control over it, and so it can be formed by whatever magic comes in contact with you.” Taking the blue hand in her own, Twilight channeled her magic to revert her changes. They both watched as the hand was shrinking in on itself, the skin slowly darkening before taking on its original, cardinal red hue. “Like this. I think when you learn more about it, your body will only change itself at your will.”
Dawn stared at her hands for a moment more, before burying her face in them and rubbing her eyes. Eventually she sighed and looked the princess sitting across her directly in the eyes.
“This… this is a lot. But thank you.”
Twilight allowed herself to smile. This had all been very sudden for her too. She had found out that one of her friends had died, but now had been reincarnated. So much had changed, and yet Dawn might even have it worse, finding out her body had changed irreversibly in a way reminiscend of old and restricted magic.
“Hey. You can make it through this all. I know it.” She said comfortingly. Dawn smiled at that. Moving forward, both of them embraced in a hug.
It was certainly a strange thing to do. Most people were lucky for them to never have to do this. Then again, maybe they could be considered unlucky for that? Who knew. It was probably not even important. It just felt weirdly… sentimental, to stare at one’s very own gravestone.
In her mind, Dawn wondered how Twilight must be feeling. Afterall, the princess was now standing before a grave she had established for someone she had thought dead, and now she was here with the person the grave had been intended for. That must be a strange situation too.
Dawn breathed deeply. It was very quiet here, she didn’t mind. She found it quite enjoyable, strangeness nonwithstanding, to stand here with the Princess. It felt good, to have been reunited with probably her first actual friend again.
Speaking of; she turned her back to the gravestone, letting her eyes wonder aimlessly as she adressed the girl beside her. “So, what are you going to do now?”
“Get back to Equestria and start searching the royal library for any books about flesh magic. Now that we have an actual case, we need every bit of information we can get, and there has to be something in the castle about it.” Came back the dry answer of the princess of Magic. “The question is, what are you going to do?”
Dawn just shrugged. She would probably start to try and figure out her own body. Maybe get help from Aria… but that was not what Twilight was leading to, she realized. She held back a grimace on her face, there were not many other prospects that Twilight could want to talk about.
“You know that, at some point, you should return.” The princess told her friend sternly, turning to face Dawn directly. “She needs to know. She deserves to. If you want, I could-”
“No, please not. I’ll tell her myself. I just don’t know when.” Dawn interrupted her. Her hands balled up into fists before she managed to relax them again. A sight escaped her lips.
“It sounds stupid but… I am still afraid of it. Of her.” She confessed warily.
“Dawn, you… she was devastated when she had received the news. I mean, I have a close relationship with Celestia but… I think to her, you were like a daughter.”
There was a heavy pause between them.
“Some time, Twilight.” Dawn eventually told her quietly. “I will try and make up my mind. Just, not now, I’m still too unsure about it. But I promise, I will.”
Twilight gave it a quick nod, “Well, I am not going to force you to anything. Pinkie still has your journal, if you want it back-“
“No, no. Let her keep it. If I need to, I will find a way to contact you.”
Twilight did not know how to formulate an answer to that, atleast one that would not sound like her mistrusting her friend. A notion not too unfounded, since she was not aware of any other means of communication then the journal.
In truth, Dawn had also no idea. She had just reacted out of instinct. Keeping the journal would be the beginning of her reconnecting with her past life, and therefore with Celestia. She wasn’t ready for that yet. She was also hoping that things would just keep calm for now.
“Thank you, Twilight. It took me a while until I convinced myself to finally contact you. I was uncertain how you would react, with… well, everything that has happened to me. But, I think I made the right decision.” She confessed. “And it is good to see you again.”
“And you cannot imagine how happy I am to know that you are alive. In a way.” Twilight replied genuinely.
They maintained eye contact for almost a full minute. Eventually however, it was time to leave and so they slowly made their way to the exit of the graveyard.
Almost there, Dawn could already see Pinkie waiting for them, and waving, of course. Waving back, her train of thought was interrupted by Twilight asking her something. “By the way, you really want to take the name Dawn Fire?”
“Yes. This is a fresh start.” She sheepishly rubbed her neck, thinking about all the changes she had encountered since first stepping foot into this world. “By now it should be my third one. For now, for now I am going to keep it. Though, if I have to be honest, I wondered before if I could even call myself the same person as before all this.”
Twilight nodded thoughtfully, thinking about the question. It was almost philosophical, especially in the difficulty of getting a sensible answer. “And what do you think now?”
“In the end I just stopped thinking about it all the time.” Dawn replied with a shrug she hoped would look casual. “Maybe that is how other people feel when they take on a new name, move to where nobody knows them, and start their live from the ground up. I still remember everything from… before and I still feel like that is me. But this, this is also me.”
They walked past the gate leading into the graveyard. Close by, Pinkie was waiting for them, to pick Twilight up and bring her back. She and Dawn gave eachother a short hug. Upon seperating, Twilight nervously tucked a strand of her behind her ear. “And you are sure that you want to keep everything away from Celestia?”
“Yes. This has to be done personally. I have to tell her, about all of this, myself.” Dawn replied somnenly. “And I still need to do a lot of apologizing to her.”
“Well, I hope she will receive that apology soon.” Twilight sighed.
“Thank you, Twilight.” The two Equestrians embraced eachother again, before Twilight entered Pinkie’s car and they drove back to CHS and the portal. Dawn stood there and winked after them until the vehicle had disappeared around a corner and out of her sight.
Taking a deep breath, she began to walk home. Aria had wandered off to somewhere, right now Dawn had too much on her own mind to think about what the Siren was doing.
Which was why she didn’t look back to the graveyard, where she could have seen her friend following a young, alabaster girl who had laid down flowers on the grave of Sunset Shimmer.
And it would have definitely peaked her suspicion, how Aria was standing directly behind the girl, only an armslength away. If Dawn would have been close enough, she might even have felt the magic in the air, subtle as it was.
Maybe she would have recognized it, realized that Aria was using the girl’s emotional weakness in this very moment to use her siren’s magic to bring her to talk. About what happened before Christmas; about Anon-A-Miss, who that was and why they had done it.
But none of that happened. And so, Dawn remained blissfully aware of how her friend was manipulating a child to get her answers. Just as Dawn remained unaware of the truth that Aria now held.
A truth about the motive that spawned all these actions that had resulted in the death of Sunset Shimmer and her reincarnation as Dawn Fire.
“Run.” Sweetie turned around in surprise, unknowingly being released from the subtle charm, hearing a snarling voice out of the sudden. A low growl reached her ears as she stared into two crimson orbs piercing into her soul. Fear gripped her heart as the shape loomed over her, sounding like wolf growling. Slowly, almost instinctively, she backed away. The shape in turn took a few steps forward.
Sweetie turned and ran as fast she could. She was soon past the entrance to the graveyard and took a random direction to sprint towards. Without even checking if she was actually followed, she let her fear drive her.
‘Jealousy? Petty JEALOUSY?!’ Aria screamed in her own head as she watched the girl running away, clenching her fists to prevent herself from giving chase. Instead, she stomped between the graves while her thoughts raged on. ‘They dared to put her through all this because they were jealous of not getting enough time with their dear sisters? How dare they!? My revenge for this will be hell in comparison to whatever they caused. I can tear down their entire school.’
She stopped. Her feet had carried her without needing a command, bringing her in front of the graves of her sisters. Lowering herself, Aria angrily brushed their headstones clean of any dust and other dirt. ‘I will make you two proud. What they have done, I can so much worse! I will show them what happens when you act in such a way against the mine, all for such… petty… envy…’
Her thoughts began to slow down as her anger started to fade.
‘Worse in comparison to them… we did so much worse. Started wars, caused strife and bloodshed; so often did we plunge entire nations into chaos. How… how many times did we act out of utter spite, or envy? Especially against eachother?’ There was no thought in her mind, only a cascade of memory snippets flashing before her. With a long exhale she sat down in front of her sister’s graves. ‘All the shit we did against another out of pure jealousy. They could not even fathom it.’
Already she felt her anger subside completely, but as soon as this realization struck she tried to heat it back up. She wanted to stay angry… ‘No! That is different to this! We are sirens, it is in our nature to bicker and argue! Whenever one was under threat we held together and struck back. If this would have happened to one of us back in the day, we would have let those pesky students tear eachother apart!’… only to have her own mind argue back against her.
But now is not then. Dawn is not even a siren.
‘Does it matter!?’ She practically yelled at herself in her head. ‘We… she… she is the closest thing I have to a sister at this point. And she deserves to have her revenge, it is her right, she just hasn’t acted upon it yet!’
There was no counterargument from her rationality, or whatever part of her mind tried to dissuade her. There was, however, a familiar voice. A memory.
“This is my fresh start and I… I know where this can lead. I just want figure out how things are now and move on from there.”
It was Dawn, when they had argued. Argued about the very same thing she was contemplating right now. The very thing that Aria had already set herself towards, even though she had promised her friend not to. The thing that Dawn had warned her about, reminding her how it had affected her when she had still carried the name Sunset Shimmer.
Revenge.
‘Does she think I am unaware of the possible problems? I am not new to failure, we were not new. No matter what, we always bounced back and found another way.’ Aria thought stubbornly.
Until we didn’t. And now they are dead.
‘Well, that won’t happen again. We are not against actual magic users, what should even happen?’
She might leave.
That thought. It brought a shiver across her back that Aria could not stop. ‘Why… why would she even do that?’ Why was she so worried about it? Why did it bother her… no, why was she afraid of that?
“Promise me you won’t go against them, ok? Please.”
“Don’t worry, Dawny. I promise.”
She had said that. She had made the promise to let it all be bygone. And even while promising, she had already planned to break it. Aria’s hands were trembling as she stared at her sisters’ gravestone.
She felt unsure, precariously balanced on a knife’s edge where before she had stood steadfast.
Logically thinking, Dawn would not just up and leave her because of it, she knew that. She hoped that. Where else would she go? She had almost no possessions or money to start off with, besides Aria the only people she knew here thought she was dead and would not recognize her now. There was nobody else to go to…
There was the Princess. The Princess who had, as of today, learned that she was alive again. What would stop Dawn from simply going back to Equestria? Especially since it was highly likely that Aria would not be allowed to go back, leaving her stranded in this world again. Alone, again. Her hands gripped her knees tightly.
Or… what would happen if Dawn intended to fight her?
Aria shot upwards, scaring a girl with light green skin and messy deep green hair that had been standing opposite her on the other side of the gravestone lines. The siren did not notice the girl as she stared almost through her sisters’ graves. That thought, the simple prospect of it, it was unbearable to even think about. She could not let that happen.
Absentmindetly, she began to walk towards the exit, her eyes only barely watching where she was going. Her mind was thinking in circles, always drifting back towards some horrible outcome, usually including Dawn either leaving or actively opposing her directly.
Her phone pinged, snapping her back to reality. Quickly she grasped it, not noticing her shaking hand, to distract her from her own thoughts. But what she saw was even worse.
//NerdTwilightDG: I’ve decided.They deserve to feel how I felt. All of them.//
She almost dropped her phone. There was no mistaken, no matter how many times she read it. Twilight Sparkle of Earth had chosen to exact revenge against those who had tormented her. Because Aria had pushed her towards it
And now she was asking for Aria’s help. Because Aria had promised her a favor.
A favor, for getting Aria information on Anon-A-Miss.
Which Aria had wanted to exact vengeance upon them. For hurting Dawn.
Against Dawn’s will.
Time and space was outside of Aria’s perception as she stood there, maybe it had all just stopped and she didn’t notice. She didn’t know what to do. If she called it all off now, Twilight would be furious. The message had been too direct, too serious to just be an act of impulse from the timid student. Aria knew what the case was here, she had observed such developments countless times and more often than not she had been the source, like now. Twilight was out for blood, she had decided only after much consideration where her mind had been spiralling down this hole, pushed by the siren herself. If suddenly told no, Twilight would, eventually, get out of control and go beserk on her targets.
Would she tell Dawn? Tell her how Aria had broken not one but two promises, betraying both their trusts? She could not allow that. But could she pursue all of this, see it through till the bitter end?
Even as her thoughts ran rampart, her fingers moved. Sluggishly they tipped an answer, in agonizing slowness, until it was sent. It was difficult to say for Aria if she had actually intended to say what she had now.
//Meet tomorrow at museum. We plan.//
Sliding her phone back into a pocket, Aria stared ahead blankly. A raindrop feel near her onto the ground. A second one hit a bench nearby. Then one splashed right on her head. Looking up, Aria’s eyes stared into the darkening sky as rain fell down all around her. People were hurrying inside or packing themselves in as the intensity quickly build into a storm. Yet Aria still stood there, a single thought ringing through her mind.
Sugarcoat walked down the corridors of Crystal Prepatory Academy at her usual brisk pace. Lessons were boring, as usual. Her classmates were annoying her, as usual. The debate club meeting had been cancelled for today because the club room was ‘under renovation’. She didn’t know why, it had never needed it, but she also did not care enough to complain about it.
Reaching her locker, she started to store her school books, then reached to take her other bag that held the more personal things she typically had use for in breaks and free times at the school.
Or atleast, it would hold these things, if it were there at all. Sugarcoat paused, annoyed more than anything. She had taken that bag out of her locker today already, however, she was completely sure that she had also put it back in her locker again.
Sugarcoat exhaled in a very frustrated fashion. Now she would have to spent valuable time tracking her belongings down. And getting her hands on the person that had stolen them.
As luck would have it, Twilight was slowly walking by her, frowning as though lost in thought. She didn’t notice the taller girl stepped in front of her until Sugarcoat snapped her fingers right in front of the purple girl’s face, causing the bookworm to stop with a start.
“Do you know where my bag is?” She asked sharply and directly. Twilight however just blinked at her confused.
“What?” She stammered.
“My personal bag. Do you know. Where it is?” Sugarcoat refrained from getting too confrontational, instead spelling it out for the girl in front of her. One should not push Twilight too much lest one wanted a sobbing and madly babbling wreck of a girl. She had seen, and done, that too often by now.
Still, she was tapping her foot on the ground as the girl in front of her visibly strained to remember something. It came to her surprise when she finally received an answer.
“Uhm-Actually… yes! I-I think I do. You left it in your c-club room.” She managed to get out.
“The club room has been closed for today. Are you really sure your brain is correct today?” Sugarcoat asked in her usual blunt and deadpan expression.
Twilight winced at that. “W-well, it was open again when I saw it. Maybe they are done with renovating.”
She sighed. Most likely, someone had placed her bag in there after it to make fun of her or some other stupid reason. “And you are sure of it.” She asked Twilight, even as she began walking to the club room.
“Yes! I just saw it there.” Twilight affirmed.
The rest of the quick walk passed, mercifully, in silence. Sugarcoat was already annoyed and having the nerd next to her babble on would the last straw. If Twilight was right, it might just be fair to not critizice her for a moment. And sure enough, the door to the club room was open, even though it seemed someone had closed the blinds, plunging the room into darkness. Not wanting to waste anymore of her own time, Sugarcoat stepped in.
The thought came to late to her. In hindsight, the boring normality of the day was partially to blame for her not being aware more. She really should have noticed.
“Twilight couldn’t have seen the bag in the darkness, not unless…”
That was when the door slammed shut behind her. Before she could have even attempted to reoriantate herself in the sudden darkness, she could hear metal on metal. The door was locked.
Outside, Twilight smirked. Giving a quick glance over her shoulder, she made a quick nod to Aria leaning in a corner. She was wearing Shadowbolt uniform to attract less attention. Getting a small remote out of her pocket, Twilight pressed a couple of buttons.
She could see the light coming from under the door and the starting of her present to Sugarcoat, the girl who would always belittle her, point out her flaws and lackings with harsh bluntness and who always looked down upon her. Well, she was now getting what she deserved.
It felt great, even though she could not linger for long. Sugarcoat was only the first. Giving one look at the new note pasted to the door, Film reviewal, do not disturb!, she started to walk away.
Inside the room Sugarcoat was kneeling on the floor, roughly in the middle of the room. The room where almost every bit of wall was written on in bright and easy-to-read paint. Insults. All pointed at her, some she was even called nowadays. They were everywhere, even on the tables that were arranged to box her in and give little space to move.
And then there was the sound. Dozens if not hundreds of voices, many low and snarking, otherwise louder and sharper in tone. They too were hurling insults at her.
Stuck Up! Bitch!
Know-it-All!
Give up already! Accept you’re a failure!
It was the sheer volume of it. She was surrounded without escape, door and windows locked tight, she had tried fruitlessly to open them. It soon become too much for her. Even though she held her ears closed, she could still hear it. Even though she pressed her eyes shut, she could still see it.
First, she had tried to ingore it.
Then, she had started to crack.
Now she was breaking apart slowly.
Sugarcoat had quickly lost any sense of time, she didn’t know how long she had been in here already. In truth, she had already lost a lot of her senses. Rocking back and forth she just wished it to end. Atleast at some point her tears would run out.
A satisfied sigh escaped Dawn’s lips as she finished her stretching. Settling back into her sitting position, she started to comb her hair back with her fingers, listening to the soothing tunes coming from her phone.
Meditating every day just after she had woken up was maybe a bit much. But she had grown to like it through the couple of days since her reunion with Princess Twilight.
It had started because she wanted to try and ‘connect’ more with her body, start shaping it herself or maybe even just get a better feel for it. A longshot to be sure, but it didn’t hurt to try. If anything, it helped to focus her mind and calm her for the day.
She had also sometimes tried to actively channel the magic inside of herself. Aria had attempted to guide her in that, finding her own wellspring and gently pulling on it. The keyword laid in ‘attempt’, as the siren seemed to have some trouble concentrating on their lessons. She always acted strange, not looking directly at Dawn and lacking some of her usual confidence. Nevertheless, they had managed to make some progress.
The feeling was a bit fuzzy, but she had already reached the point of directing the energy through her body. Nothing more than that however, it was really the pure basis of what she hoped to be complete body control, and it wouldn’t really bring her much besides maybe providing a better starting point for future things and lessons. Those could wait on, she had no time constraints.
Finally deciding it was time to get going for the day, Dawn got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen.
She only noticed it after she had made herself a small breakfast already. The house was quiet, too quiet for Aria to be here. That was strange, as Aria normally wasn’t out at this time, atleast not without telling her first.
Dawn found the note quickly enough, though she had to admonish herself for not noticing the paper early. It had been placed in a more than open space too, though this also worried her. Dawn was no stranger to the siren placing notes for her, the worry came in how they were placed.
Aria was typically pragmatic with these things, she would only leave letters where they would be seen quickly, assuming Dawn followed her own routine on time. Thus, notes were normally hung onto the fridge for the morning.
However, this letter had been placed on the dinner table with only a vase half standing on it. It was done haphazardly, indecisive. Aria was not usually indecisive. If she had wanted to hide the letter, she would not have done this, she would have actually thought about where to place it and how to hide it properly.
Taking the letter, her eyes briefly skimmed over the words it held, her mind already processing the information.
Sorry Dawn,
I am helping Twilight with something at school. It will take a while to do.
If her red flags had been raised before, now they were in overdrive. Aria never apologized for being away in the mornings, because she didn’t have to, and Aria never started adressing her. She only gave short explanations what she was doing, where she was and sometimes where they could meet afterwards, because that was all that was needed.
Dawn slowly set the note back down onto the table. Then she ran upstairs to get ready. Perhaps she was wrong, hopefully she was. But she couldn’t afford not to go.
Aria had not apologized for going away so early, she had directly apologized to Dawn. For going and helping Twilight at Crystal Prep. What were they doing? That was the question. But it could not be something good, not when Aria hid the note only halfheartedly. As if she tried to delay her, yet wanted for Dawn to find it early and follow her. Was it because of guilt?
Whatever the reason was, whatever Aria was doing right now, Dawn had to be there and stop it if it got out of hand.
The hysteric yells echoed loudly through the hallways, attracting some attention from remaining students. Those nearby the source watched as the boy and girl went through their respective lockers in different states of anguish, she losing her mind over the burned books and notes and he holding remains of photos and a personal journal. They did not pay attention to the ashes staining their fine clothes, so caught up were they.
No one spared even a glance to Twilight Sparkle quickly walking away with an unknown student.
The bookworm was just fine with that, she did not need any more distraction. Her heart was beating hard and quick, and her mind was burning with thoughts of relish and vengeance.
Her fuchsia-skinned partner was also just fine with it, however for a greatly different reason. Aria felt neither satisfaction nor any sort of happiness, and she was worried about that. Because, by all means, she should feel great. This was exactly the kind of things she and her sisters had loved to do: corrupt mortals to do bad things for selfish reasons.
And yet… she felt empty.
No, not empty. Wrong, guilty.
She should not feel like this.
But they were on a schedule. The next target should be in her usual spot right now. She desperately hoped that she could distract herself, to forget this feeling. Yet, her heart, or whatever rotten equivalent was inside her, felt like it was tearing itself apart.
“There she is, like every other day. So predictable.” Twilight sneered. She was peering out of a window downwards towards their next target.
Indigo Zap was unaware of them, standing between a couple of bushes with a cigarette in her hand while looking bored at the phone in her other hand. If only she could feel the glare drilling itself in her head from the purple student a couple of levels above her.
Twilight’s hand clenched around the sack in her hands. She was getting more and more angry as the day wore on, even though her plans were going off wonderfully. Probably because now, she could finally vent all her repressed emotions freely. And since it didn’t take away her satisfaction, she didn’t care. If anything, having the fury fill her veins in the build up made the conclusion just all the sweeter.
Today, she would pay back years of bullying and being used by her classmates in kind. Sugarcoat was already receiving a copious taste of her own medicine. Those who had forced her to do their homework and assignements had found their lockers filled with ashes and remnants of their own school notes. As it served them right.
The students who had tried to steal her things, when Aria had saved her, were probably still trying to find their own bags and purses in the school. It would take them a while to find them, if at all. And when found; well, it had been a lot for Twilight already to throw them into the kitchen dumpsters. Getting them out would be a whole other matter.
She had even broken Lemon Zest’s stupid boombox alongside a pair of headphones. True, that one had been more improvised, but the girl had it coming. All those times were she had been blarring loud, horrible music when Twilight was nearby, or even directly at her. It would teach her a lesson.
And now Indigo Zap. The girl who was constantly teasing her because of their physical difference. Boasting loudly with all the awards and prizes and trophies she had won, while always pointing out Twilight’s weak and meek body.
It was true, Twilight did not have the physical prowess as the other girl. It still hurt.
The trophies clanged in the sack next to her. It had been somewhat nerve-wrecking to steal them, even with Aria somehow getting the appropriate keys from the janitor. But when they had smashed them in the gym with heavy blunt tools, it had been better than she could ever have imagined.
A real surprise to the bookish Twilight, how good it felt to dent and otherwise damage all these invaluable wastes of metal. But that was only part one.
Now to part two.
“Is he coming.” She asked quietly, so as to not alert her prey. Aria was looking out another window close to her, squinting her eyes into the distance. She just nodded. If Twilight had paid more attention to her, she might have seen the fuchsia girl’s unsure expression.
But Twilight was solely focused on her prey. How infuriated she was, watching the cocky student below her light up another cigarette. She dragged the sack closer to herself.
“Alright he is close enough.” Aria said, turning away from the window. This would require good timing. Running down nearby stairs she quickly made her way outside to intercept the teacher.
It was easy to distract him, acting like a new student trying to ask for directions, acting all friendly and nice. To his credit the older man gave her actually useful advice, had she needed it. The important thing was that he was close enough so he could hear-
The loud mess of metal clanging let both their head snapp to the direction it came from.
The teacher immediately rushed towards it, as did Aria. This was how it was supposed to go. She and Twilight also had of course planned for Indigo to shout in surprise, and how to counter it to keep the blame squarely on her.
Aria’s heart felt like ice. She had accounted for a scream of surprise, not a scream of pain.
They found her on the grassy ground. The cigarettes, meant to further bring the girl into trouble, were irrelevant. Immediately the teacher got on his knees in front of Indigo, not caring as his fine trousers were stained with some splatters of her blood. Aria just stared unbelieving.
It was easy to see. The metal trophies lying all around her, the bloody hammer. Luckily Indigo was still breathing and screaming in agony, clutching her head. There were multiple signs of blunt trauma on her exposed skin, blood leaking from cuts made by sharp edges or broken skin, most notably a head wound.
Aria ran. She didn’t really know if the teacher had ordered her to get help or if she had said it herself.
This was a mistake. She is going to far. She will only get worse. She thought feverishly. They had meant to frame Indigo for damaging some trophies, not a hospital. Was Twilight even aware of how bad she could have hurt another student?
Yes… she most likely was. She had done this willingly, lead by the desire to exact vengeance. And she would not stop now.
Oh sisters, what have I started?
Twilight returned the look of contempt with equal, if not stronger, hatred smoldering in her eyes. Her boots ground against the concrete beneath them, as she stared at her opposition. Her fingers clenched into fists. She had not planned for an actual fist fight right behind the gym, but the prospect was getting more and more appealing for her.
The young woman stood opposite her; the only way out now blocked by an untypically angry nerd. She had been told that someone wanted to meet her here to talk about important things, the important things being blackmail of course. Someone had found records of Principal Cinch getting her hands dirty in matters she should have left them out of, such as procuring extra funds, bribery, and favoring certain students while using blackmail and coercion tactics against other students to further her own goals. Not a lot of evidence, but surely enough to suggest this mysterious party had even more then they let on, and even this small amount would be troubling.
And they had used it to get her, Sunny Flare, daughter of the Principal of Crystal Prep, to meet at a dead-end alley behind the school gym. She had been prepared to bargain and negotiate with her opponent. Of course, her mother had not told her any of this, but Sunny would have been a rather naïve and unobservant daughter to not notice and suspect unsavory dealings. Afterall, she had been raised to an extent with such tactics and learned how to use them herself. Not on the level of her dear mother but she was anything but innocent.
Prime example: the girl in front of her. She had never stooped so low as to get Twilight to do her homework, she was not lazy. But, getting her to join scientific competitions to secure victories for the school, compelling her into providing access to science supplies or computers. This sort of thing she was definitely guilty of. And now, Twilight had decided to take vengeance. It seemed very unlikely that Sunny Flare would be able to talk her way out of this, though the idea of Twilight getting physical was too surreal to really accept.
“Alright, Sparkle. What do you want?” Sunny said, making sure to sound disinterested.
Her opponent just glared at her with fire in her eyes. The unusual intensity actually succeeded in making Sunny Flare extremely uncomfortable. She could not properly read Twilight and she did not like that at all.
“I’ve had enough from you, Flare!” The purple nerd pretty much growled like a wolf; a meek, scrawny one, but a wolf nonetheless. “You, everyone else, this entire stupid school; I have had enough of it all!”
“So what, you’re gonna release all my mom’s dirty little secrets? Go ahead, I don’t care.” That was not entirely honest, Sunny Flare did care, even if only a smallest bit. But this was about playing her opposition. If Twilight wanted to control her with blackmail, then she would refute that. Show no interest, tell her to do it. Take away her satisfaction of controlling you and mock her with it. She thought to herself. Judging by how Twilight seemed to get even more pissed, her tactic was showing success.
Only problem was, it didn’t help her here, cornered, with Twilight blocking the only way out.
“Youuu… prissy, little piece of waste!” Unceremoniously, Twilight let her school back drop to the ground, pulling from it a small object as others clampered to the ground. The young scientist did not care however, as she removed the covering from the stainless, cold steel and gripped it with obvious experience.
If Sunny Flare had been uncomfortable before, now she felt an actual shiver down her back. She swallowed hard, tensing her muscles and making herself ready, as Twilight was now pointing a scalpel at her.
Twilight rolled her wrist, letting the small but sharp blade swirl through their air. She made a sudden step forward and to the left, grinning as she saw her prey immediately jump backwards in correpsondance. Just for her own amusement, she repeated the move, revelling in the look of fear on the usually oh-so-prissy-perfect-looking girl.
Sunny Flare on her part could feel sweat starting to accumulate all over her, as the true danger of her situation was realized. The innocent, weak Twilight had gone fully mad, and she actually believed that the bookworm would go through with attacking her with a sharp blade. Feverishly her mind tried to find a way out of this predicament.
Obiously, trying to overpower Twilight was a bad idea, since Sunny was certain her opponent was fast and experienced enough with wielding such a delicate blade to get atleast a couple of hits in. In contrast however, the scalpel had a very short range.
It was then that the would-be-scientist’s bag fell into Sunny’s eyes. Among the scattered pencils, notebooks, and other irrelevant stuff she could spot some sort of metal device, round, and purple in colour, and very complicated looking. An idea sprung up in her mind. If this was by chance one of Sparkle’s own creations, then maybe she would be hesitant to put it in danger. Sunny could use it to gain a head start and then run away towards safety. Fortunately for her, Twilight had unknowingly moved away from her bag, giving her a small opening to make a mad dash for it.
It was a longshot, but right now her only hope.
“Alright, enough fun. Now it’s your turn!” Twilight snarled and prepared to lunge at her opponent.
“Stop!” Both girls immediately froze and turned towards the new arrival, who was running at them, coming to a halt directly behind Twilight “Stop it, right now! You’ve gone too far Twilight, this ends here!”
“Are you kidding me, Aria!? We just started it and you want it to stop already!” Twilight turned fully away from the cornered Sunny Flare towards the siren, spreading her arms wide with an almost manic smile. “This is so far the best day of my life! Finally, I can make them pay, after years they all get what they deserved!”
“Do you even realize what you did to Indigo?! Twilight you could have killed her!” Aria yelled back.
At this the purple-skinned girl scowled heavily, her hands clenching to a pair of trembling fists. “Oh, don’t you suddenly go high morals, you suggested this to me in the first place! Only now you want to chicken out of it. And do you think I didn’t have a clue why you wanted all that information? You want to take your own revenge against that stupid account, so you needed to know where they life.”
Sunny Flare listened to the argument with wide eyes. Indigo is hurt? What are they talking about, an account? What the fuck is wrong with them?! If it weren’t for her self-preservation, she would have been frozen by fear, this was getting too serious for her. But since they were not paying much attention to her and this new woman had turned Twilight completely away from her, she could perhaps get to Twilight’s stuff and use it as leverage. Slowly she began to inch towards it, praying that they would ignore her.
“Twilight, I was wrong, and I am sorry, but you have to come to your senses! You’re n-“ Aria flinched back as Twilight practically screeched into her face. She was also now very aware of the sharp metal object held tightly by purple fingers, and also pointed directly at her.
“Coming to my senses!? Stop fucking talking down to me! You’re just like everyone else, Aria! Always using me, manipulating me, thinking you can play with me all you like and then when you don’t want to anymore, I have to listen and obey! ALWAYS!” Angrily she made a step forward. “Not today, not ever again! I am sick and tired of all this bullshit!”
“Twilight, you’re out of control!” Aria shouted back, spreading her legs into a combat-ready stance, and raising her arms ever-so-slightly in preparation. She would not be blindsided by a raging girl with a sharp balde again. This time, she would not be able to bounce back like she had. “Think! We had plans, then you abandoded them out of impulse and threw the-“
They were interrupted as Sunny Flare snatched the complicated-looking device from Twilight’s bag, immediately taking several steps back and holding it high above her head. The young scientist actually noticed her and turned.
“Let me go or your fancy project gets smashed!” Sunny yelled with as much determination as she could put behind her voice, hoping desperately that she had gotten something valuable.
Twilight’s reaction surprised her completely, however. “YOU BITCH!” the young student screamed and lunged at her. Sunny had no chance to react as the other girl slammed into her. Aria also ran towards them, trying to break up the impromptu wrestling match and drag Twilight away forcefully.
She had almost reached them, when the device was activated, by whom, it did not matter in the end.
It was a particular invention that Twilight had invented without the knowing of her new friends but had yet the chance to test properly. When she had found the first signs of some new sort of energy, she had of course wanted to study it. For that to be possible, storage capabilities needed to exist, so she could have a supply of testing material to work with.
The device was one such a storage unit, tweaked from Twilight’s first designs. After her first actual encounters with traces of this energy, she had come up with a design that could not only store but collect such energy. She had wanted to try and filter future exposure places of the remnant energy. Now she found out how effective her inventions truly were.
In a surprising show of functionality, the device immediately made out the nearest and strongest source of the energy it was calibrated to. Then, as designed, it started to collect it. Aria was stopped dead in her tracks, as her body went alight in pain.
She could feel it. Her magic, her life essence, was sucked out of her. She had of course experienced before to have her magic siphoned, but even the more aggressive times were not like this. It was uncontrolled and amateurish, and it was painful.
She fell to her knees, one hand clawing at her gem in a vain effort to keep her magic inside of herself, her strength leaving frightingly quickly. Turn it off! she tried to shout, but it came out choked and without air. By the sea, she couldn’tbreathe.
Seeing what was happening, Twilight finally managed to wrench the device from Sunny Flare, who had been looking with wide eyes as something was pouring straight off the young woman in front of her and into the small metal device. She barely reacted as Twilight pushed her away and ran towards Aria.
“No, Aria! I am so sorry, I am so sorry!” The would-be scientist cried frantically, fingering her contraption as she tried to find the correct dial, the one with which she could regulate output.
“I’ll fix this, I promise!” She hastily said before turning the dial. Aria tried desperately to say something, but even if she had been able to, it was too late. In her panic, Twilight set the output to maximum.
Immediately, the energy all rushed out of its confinement, whirling around her in strands of all colours, an everchanging rainbow. Twilight was frozen as her mind tried to comprehend it all, mainly that she had just comitted a grave error. Opening the floodgate had successfully stopped the device from absorbing any more energy from Aria, but now this energy was unleashed without any direction.
And in this, Twilight learned one of her first and most important lessons about magic. It was, as possible as it is for pure energy, alive, and always seeking a purpose, be it a spell or a vessel.
Instead of returning back to Aria, as she had hoped, all the accumulated energy instead went straight into the nearest viable vessel.
Namely her.
Her body seemed to tear at itself, arms feeling like they were pulling away while also wanting to split themselves open. Her legs collapsed like twigs, twitching as she was sent sprawling. Every single organ seemed to develop its own sudden urge to leave its place and get to somewhere else, all simultaniously. Her blood was boiling hot then ice cold in a second, then in another she had electricity coursing through her veins, then only gas. Pain and horror overloaded her brain, then they were mixed with confusion, then pleasure, then saddness, then happiness.
Twilight wasn’t even aware that she was screaming, or was she even screaming? She was talking, trying to say something, or was she even making a sound? Up became down and down became up; she felt like she could not breath air anymore, not through her lunges. The only thing that was certain, even with her mind and her body paralyzed in this state, she was dying.
Her skin started to glow, or more precisely the veins under it began to emit deep purple light as the last of the swirling energy seeped into her. Twilight could feel her heart stop beating; was it a minute, or a second?
And then air rushed into her chest, expanding it painfully but also spreading a pleasant, warmth throughout her body. The glow inside of her diminished.All the contradicting and tormenting things and feelings she just had experienced seemed to meld together rapidly, settling down to something bearable. No, not bearable. Enjoyable.
Twilight could feel something inside of herself. It was everywhere, her limbs, her blood, her organs, her heart, her head; she was filled with it. It felt wonderful, it energized her, not just in body, in her mind as well. New ideas and theories rushed through her in the blink of an eye, her imagination subconsciously adapting to this new source of energy. Yes, Twilight could feel this energy inside her body.
She was able to feel the power.
She turned to Aria who was struggling to keep herself off the ground with shaky arms, not even bothering to look at Sunny Flare backing further into the corner.
“You… you had this? All the time?” Twilight felt pure amazement at the new power in her veins, as well as rapidly growing contempt and anger. “You had this and all you did was nothing?!”
Experiemently, she reached a hand into the thin air, for seconds unsure of what to do, what to try first. Quickly however, she concentrated, thinking about the first laws of energy that she had learned in kindergarten.
At first, it seemed to resist. But it was hers, and so it would do as she wanted. And once this thought entered her mind, embedding itself deep inside it, this new energy source readibly submitted to her will. There was only a small spark at first, then more, before bigger and bigger arcs of lighting were visible, jumping between and around her fingers.
It was all Twilight could do to contain her excitement, the rush of success and the prospect of even more things that she could do almost overwhelming her. The lightning hit the open palm of her hand which lit up in a flame. Its bright, flickering light reflected in her eyes as she moved the hand this way and that. She relished in the feeling the flame in her hand, fire that was not burning her because it was at her beck and call.
The bright orange flames then turned blue as she increased its heat and strength more and more, soon resembling a blowtorch. And then, with a simple, clenched fist, she extinguished it all.
Sunny Flare winced, burrowing herself deep into the corner as the harsh laughter of the girl the whole school looked down upon hit her ears. Right now, she desperatley wanted to sink into the ground never to be seen again or wake up in her bed to realize it was all a horrible nightmare.
“All this power, at your fingertips, and what did you do?” Twilight snapped Aria. One purple hand lifted up, veins once again lighting up like neon lights under transparent skin. A light poll was suddenly torn from the ground, taking a chunk of concrete with it, floating in the air for a few seconds before falling down again with a low crash.
“You could have… you… I can… all these things…” There were so many words, too many things for her to express. Her tongue tripped over itself in the attempt of voicing all of them.
She was interrupted as something ran past her. Turning she saw as Sunny Flare was sprinting as fast as she could. Her mind immediately focused, as Twilight’s hate and anger boiled up again to the full, seizing control of her priorities again.
One hand snapped up towards the fleeing student. There was barely any thought of what to do, only the impulse. Sunny could not even react as the ground beneath her suddenly errupted upwards. She disappeared in an explosion of stone, the only thing in the place she had just stood in was a big cloud of smoke, dust, and pulverized concrete.
Twilight just stared at what she had done. Then, a smile slowly formed on her lips, as she slowly turned to Aria once more.
Her mouth worked silently, before letting out laughter, which soon rose to a cackle. “W-why?!” She barely managed to bring out between her cries of joy. “Why did you not use this?! Why did you even need me, with all the awesome things you were capable of?”
Her laughter finally abated, morphing into disgust at the being in front of her that had trouble even lifting her head to maintain eye contact. Aria struggled to say something, only for a pathetic croaking whisper to come past her lips. But Twilight did not need her to talk.
“You are so arrogant! Power like this and yet you lounge around, not even thinking that you could use it. Imagine all the advancements we could make if we understand this new energy, imagine what could be done once it is harnessable! You could have been a hero, and yet you think only of yourself?!” Her voice rose higher and higher with her anger. Bu then, suddenly, a new thought entered her mind. At first, she tried to push it away, wanting to concentrate on the unfairness before her.
“Those people you wanted me to find, you want to take revenge on them for something, right? Why, what did they do to you? They made that mystable account, did they hurt someone close to you? Is that why you helped me?” Aria strained her face, attempting her best at giving an answer, only for more croaking to leave her mouth.
“Answer me!” The siren was suddenly grabbed at her collar and pulled up face to face with Twilight. Subconsciously she noted that the purple girl’s arms were glowing, likely giving her the strength for the act.
”T-t-hey h-urt, da-awn…” Aria was barely able to say. Only after her words had already left her mouth, when she saw Twilight’s eyes narrow dangerously, did she realize that she should not have said it.
With a dull thud she was thrown back to the ground, coughing harshly as dust entered her throat.
Twilight paid her no attention anymore, turning away with an expression of hate on her face. Dawn had been the first person to actually be nice to her, outside of her own family. She had always treated her like an equal person, not someone to be bullied or used. And as much as Aria’s misuse of this wonderful power for her goals angered her, she felt herself agree that those who had hurt the kind, red girl could not go unpunished.
She felt a tugging on her left boot. Glancing down, she saw the pained expression of the woman who had offered her revenge in the first place, then given her this amazing gift.
”P-lea-se… d-on’t-“
“No, you are wrong.” There was a coldness in her voice that might have once surprised Twilight herself. “You are too weak to go through with the plan, as you have shown me already today. But now, I have the tools to do it myself. And so, I shall. Nobody hurts my friend and gets away with it. I’ll find them, and if I have to burn their stupid farm to the ground.”
Wrenching her foot free she marched forward, past the still smoking crater she had left. It was quite a way to the farm and the spot where all the posts had come from, which she figured must be a meeting spot of sorts.
Her thoughts darkened at the prospect of taking a bus or anything similar public, before she realized the power inherint inside her now. Immediately, an idea formed inside her head. It might be dangerous to attempt something so complex already. However, she knew she could pull it off somehow.
Twilight slowed her breath and concrentrated. Her eyes stared forwards before closing. She could feel the energy coursing through her rapidly, as she urged her imagination to do its work.
Open a hole, connect A to B and-
If this was how getting sucked through vacuum was like, then Twilight would never go to space in her remaining lifetime. However, as she carefully opened her eyes and looked first down herself and then around, the unsettling feeling was soon forgotten.
There she was, several paces away from where she had just stood. She had teleported.
Twilight grinned from ear to ear, looking into the direction where she knew the farm was.
Then, she disappeared.
Slowly, painfully, Aria was dragging herself forward. Concrete fragments was digging itself into her skin, leaving scrapes and small gashes, but still she endured against the pain. It was a useless endeavor, she knew it. Twilight had already, somehow, figured out how to teleport herself. She would never catch up to her. She would not be able to stop her from making even more mistakes.
Tears plopped to the ground, as Aria weakly dragged herself another bit. She didn’t even know why she was doing this.
Suddenly she felt a hand grabbing her shoulders and pulling her upwards off the ground. Aria tried her best to push herself off with her own feet to help, but she just barely managed to avoid her feet losing their halt on the concrete. On of her arms was draped over a shoulder as a foreign one held her other side.
Turning her heavy head to the side, Aria stared into the dirty and scraped face of Sunny Flare. There was a determined yet deeply haunted look in the Crystal Prep Student. Her entire uniform was dusty, with several ripps and tears exposing some bleeding gashes from the stone shrapnell.
She seemed battered and unstable, but she was alive. Wether that was because of pure luck or because Twilight had not intentionally tried for her life, neither of them knew or really cared about.
Progress was still slow as Sunny now dragged Aria towards the parking lots, but it was way faster than before. Neither made any sound other than pained groans or heavy panting.
In her mind, clouded by the sudden drain of her magic, Aria was cursing herself for leaving her phone in her bike-compartment. She had not wanted to face the moment when Dawn found out what she was doing and either sent her messages or outright called her. She had not been sure she could have get going with the plan if that had happened.
Of course, now those things were mostly irrelivant. Now she just needed to call-
“ARIA!” It was almost unreal. To see her hurrying towards them, like a red angel. Even when her face was contorted in worry, it was beautiful. The siren could not help herself but smile, just a little bit, as her only friend stopped right in front of them.
Sunny Flare tried to explain herself, but wether from the shock or the abnormality of what she had witnessed, she could only bring out the barest of context. Dawn didn’t even really listen to her. As her hands tried to bring up Aria’s head, so she could see her friends face, she already felt it. The siren was almost completely sucked dry of her magic.”
“No no no!” She cursed under her breath, pressing her own forehead against Aria’s to hold her friend’s head up and free her own hands. “Come on Aria, take from me! You did it once already, please, you need it!” She pleaded desperately.
Even in her current state, Aria’s base instincts were still functional. And here was a being willingly offering some of her own magic to her. All she had to do was to grab it.
On her part, there was only so much that Dawn could mentally preprare herself for, as she felt the siren’s hand hold onto her head. Then, just like the first time, pain surged through her as her energy was siphoned away. This time however, she only let it take some of her energy, before denying any more and fighting it off.
The change was noticeable almost immediately. Aria let go of Sunny Flare, who backed away with wide eyes. The siren’s mind was no longer clouded by the lack of energy and her body, while still weak, was able to support itself once more.
Yet still, she could not bring herself to meet the eyes of her friend. Shame and guilt were ever so present in her.
“Dawn, I… I-“ She stuttered, at a total loss of words, before the red girl interrupted her.
“Aria, what happened?” The words were still laced with worry, but they were stern. Dawn did not hide the fact that she was hurt by her friend going behind her back. But more important things were on the line.
“Twilight, she… she has something that took all my magic away.”
“And where is she now?”
“She… the farm. Sweet Apple Acres. She wants to finish what I planned to.” Finally, Aria locked eyes with her only friend. “Dawn, she has absorbed magic. She… she has lost control of herself.”
There was no outburst of emotion, no angry words, and somehow that made it all worse. They both knew who was at fault for all this, it did not need to be said out loud. When Dawn took one fuchsia hand into her own, Aria flinched back reflexively, but a hand grasping the back of her neck forced her to look in the face of her friend.
“Listen to me.” Dawn said, controlled and determined. “We are going to stop her, by any means, do you understand? Otherwise, she is going to hurt someone. And even if those she hurts are responsible for what happened to me, we are going to save them!” Aria just nodded numbly.
Dawn was about to turn when another voice pipped up behind them.
“I’m coming with you!” Sunny Flare declared, even as her hands were still shaking and small lines of blood marred her face.
Dawn looked at her, conflicted. She did not want to drag another person into this mess, much less someone who had no dealings with equestrian magic before. However, from the looks of it, this student had already witness enough. Then there was the small voice in the back of her head that told her, if this girl had been targeted by Twilight, then there would likely be a good reason for it. But, the fact that she was still willing to risk her life in this, despite the obvious fear she felt, gave Dawn a pause.
“Can you drive a car?” She asked.
Sunny Flare nodded rapidly. “Enough to bring us to where she is going, I hope. I might have to uh, borrow the keys from someone else, but…”
“Then come on, we don’t have a lot of time.” Dawn interrupted her.
Better they get in trouble for a stolen car than letting someone with magic run rampant.
“Never thought that I would ever hate myself so much. But here I am, and really, I kinda deserve all of it. Seriously, something is so completely wrong with me. I mean, why did I ever think this was a good idea? If something happens, it’ll be sorely because I am the universe’s greatest fool and totally deserving of all this shit.” This and many, many different iterations made up Sunny Flare’s thought and word as she was trying to sneak between the trees around her.
In truth, this had never been a good idea, and she had known that. However, the reason why she was here were twofold. First and foremost, in a way, this was her mistake and thus she had to assist in fixing it.
There was also the unavoidable fact that lifes were at stake. And as much as Sunny Flare wanted to believe that she always would have taken an opportunity to try and save people, her very own brush with a life-threatening force had made her jump at the chance to avoid a similar situation to end far worse for others then what had happened with her.
Twilight.
They had seen her a couple of times as she had driven them to this place. It had seemed so sporadic, how Twilight would just appear and then vanish again. She sincerily hoped that they had not been spotted, it was too difficult to tell since she had been driving very fast and rather reckless. No accidents, but only pure luck had kept them away from any police car.
Not that the officials were the biggest problem right now.
It was worrying. How full of rage and hatred the young girl had been. Ready to attack someone with a scalpel, very likely intending it to end lethally. That it was Twilight Sparkle made things only worse. The akward, bookish nerd was almost famous for not being able to stand for herself, nevermind actually hurting someone. And yet… things had apparently changed.
And now, she had seemed to absorb some sort of magic. Sunny wasn’t so scientific to immediately deny such a thing from being possible. Her recent personal experience certainly dispelled any actual doubt to what she was dealing with, especially since the red one of these two strange women had very quickly explained what the situation was.
Sunny Flare ducked lower to the ground as she heard Twilight’s angry cursing right ahead. For better or for, more likely, worse, she had found her. Thus, step one was partially completed.
Step 1: Find Twilight before she does any more damage.
Pecking around a tree she could see the purple student straighten herself. If her choice of curse words were any help, she still had trouble getting her teleporting-schtick correctly. Good for them. Still muttering angrily, Twilight stormed onwards into the forest, Sunny trailing her as best as she could. They must be close to whatever her target was.
Sunny wished the other two girls would be beside her. Following a maniac equipped with magic was not something that she wanted to do alone. Sure, the others were supposed to be to her left and right respectively, with enough distance between them to quickly run for help but still reduce detectibility. It still left her feeling alone, following a pissed off magician, or whatever she should call the would-be-scientist.
Said scientist was either a really good actor or terrible at noticing anything around herself, Sunny mused as her foot accidentally hit another branch with a crack of old wood, causing her to duck back into cover. But Twilight did not seem to care at all. She just continued to walk forward.
They were getting close, if the angry rambling was any indication. Meant that she had reached the pissed off newtime-magician just in the nick of time.
So then, onto step two.
This is probably the worst day in my entire life, Sunny Flare thought, closing her eyes for a moment and breathing once. Then she stood up straight, stepped out into the open and raised her voice.
“Twilight. Enough of this.” The reaction was immediate, as the purple girl turn towards her like a released springlock. There was confussion clearly visible, but only for as long until it was drowned out by the girl’s resurfacing hatred.
“I thought I took care of you already.” She snarled. Her hands and arms started to glow through the skin again as the magic filled them. Sunny tensed her body, preparing to throw herself to the left should her opponont attempt another blast at her. “No matter. This is good, actually. Now I can do things a bit more proper. So thank you for saving me all the trouble.”
Slowly, Twilight raised her right hand, before stopping it halfway. The air around it visibly rippled, before sparks of fire and lightning started to dance around it. Twilight cocked her head and seemed to ponder something, though to Sunny it came across as disgenuine and extremely mockingly. Tensing like a spring, she gritted her teeth.
“Ah but what to do? I mean, there are so many good options.” Twilight asked out loud into the forest, as several different elements coiled around her outstretched limb after one another in a worryingly proficient display of arcane might. Or, for Sunny, a simple, terrifying display of supernatural and quite lethal power.
Old leaves and little twigs crunched as Twilight took a casual step forward, causing Sunny to immediately take one backwards. It took all her determination and focus to not just bolt away into the trees. But she had to stick to the plan. The others would have to be getting very close by now, ready to intervene.
Step 2: Bait Twilight and distract her.
“Oh, oh-ho-ho!” The crazed young scientist laughed. “Now you’re afraid of me? Little ol’ me, puny meeky Twily, who just happens to have found a great new energy source?”
The cyan-skinned girl did not answer at first, taking another, very careful step backwards. Her ears were strained for any sound that would confirm that her two partners were already here. Meanwhile her mind desperately tried to think of something that she could say to Twilight to further stall her.
“Enough of this now. I think I got the perfect thing just for you, Sunny!” Twilight snarled. Her arms snapped out towards the target of her ire, immediately alight as the magical power was flowing through them in full force.
A beam of light zapped from her fingers. Luckily, Sunny had been prepared to dodge, able to narrowly escape the shot. She did not look behind her to see what this strangely solid light did, keeping her eyes on the actual threat right in front of her. The sound of wood melting and cracking told her enough.
“Nevermind!” Twilight yelled almost happily, pushing forward a hand that she clenched into a fist.
This time, Sunny Flare almost reacted too late as she dove to the side again. A loud crack sounded through the orchards, as an invisible force crushed into an empty space.
Barely able to keep herself on her own limbs, as displaced air rushed past her and threatened to push her down, Sunny sprinted forward in a mad dash. Her heart was immediately pounding in her head with the force of a jackhammer.
She didn’t make it far as suddenly patches of grass and dirt were flung upwards, and Sunny herself was flung up with them. There was no time for her to realize the terrible situation, feeling this unseen yet immensly powerful force yanking her upwards, tearing at her cloths and skin.
CRACK!
The impact was enough to break the branch off the entire tree. A loud and extremely pained cry echoed through the air as Sunny’s back exploded into agony. It had struck her at her waist, though mercifully not directly on her spine.
The tree branch fell heavily to the ground only for it to freeze right next to the girl. Then everything slowly floated downwards, coming to stop only a few feet above the ground, right before the purple student.
Twilight had her hands outstretched with splayed fingers, angled as if she was holding a sizeable object between them. An almost shark-like grin was etched into her features as she looked at the limb and groaning figure, suspended in mid-air between a tree branch and dirt.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I guess I put in a little bit too much of an effort.” One hand turned to face upwards, flames starting to crackle around her fingers. “You’re quite loud you know? Don’t worry, I have just the right idea to cur-“
The manic scientist was forcefully cut off as a blur slammed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Her concentration was broken almost instantly, releasing the badly hurt Sunny Flare from the telekinetic grip, just as two strong fuchsia arms wrapped around Twilight’s throat and arms in an attempt to restrain her.
Aria spoke no words as she struggled against the young girl beneath her. Her gem glowed aggressively underneath her clothes as she latched onto Twilight’s magical reserves.
Immediately the purple girl began to scream as if she was being tortured, struggling desperately as she felt her newfound power being leeched away. Wildly, almost like an animal, she swung around her hands as best she could, unable to access the might she had at her fingertips just seconds ago.
A figure rushed past them. Dawn tried her best to ignore the blood-curdling cries as she ran to the limb form of Sunny Flare. Dragging one arm over her shoulder she started to carry her away from the struggle behind her. She wanted to help, but Aria had been clear in her orders.
Behind her, Twilight had managed to give just enough space for her head to move and immediately used this opportunity to sink her teeth into Aria’s arm. The siren responded by driving her fist into the young student’s stomach, again and again, in an effort to get her to release her own limb. And during all this, even though she almost wavered, she still kept siphoning from Twilight’s magic.
Finally, Twilight released her teeth from the fuchsia skin, only to snap her head back, aiming for the one behind her. Instead, she found another spot.
Aria’s concentration was shattered as her gem was hit, her breath rushing out of her chest in one strangled gasp. Her quarry immediately felt her magical might returning to her command.
Without much thinking, she pressed on hand flat against the earthy ground, catapulting her and her assailant upwards towards the trees. With another cracking sound, Aria was slamming through several tree branches until they met one too thick to break against them.
Twilight felt the arms around her lose their strength to hold on. Her satisfaction was limited however, as gravity began to assert itself once more. Just mere moments before hitting the hard ground herself, her hands shot up. Energy coursed through her veins and exited her body as small yet strong flames. It seemed to work, as the young student hit the ground with nowhere near as much force as she would have.
Still, it took her a couple of seconds to stand up and catch her breath, before she began to scan the area around her. Aria was nowhere to be seen. However, she could make out the forms of Dawn Fire and Sunny Flare running away from her. Twilight smiled cruely, taking off after them.
Dawn had been focused on the way in front of her, weighed down by the extra body hanging onto her, which was why she noticed the sounds of crackling electricity only when it was too late.
The lightning bolt hit them with enormous force, slamming both girls on the ground and leaving them as spasming on the ground. The smell of burnt cloth began to fill the area, as Twilight casually walked towards the two struck forms in the grass. Her cold eyes wondered over Sunny’s twitching form, displeasure showing on her face.
“Damn, didn’t really pack that much power then I thought.” Planting one foot on the girl’s back she raised her hands, electricity once again darting between her fingers. So transfixed was she on the body beneath her that she failed to the notice the other one shakingly arising from the ground. “But that just means that I’ll have to keep experiementing. I will get it right so-“
Her word was cut short as a cardinal red fist slammed first into her stomach, followed by a second one connecting with her cheeck. Twilight was driven off Sunny’s back by the force of the double impact, stumbling across the ground as she managed to maintain her balance.
With a snarl she turned towards the girl charging her again. With unnatural speed her own hands snapped upwards, swatting the incoming attacker away with a telekenetic push. Then her hands curled into fists, and with sparks flying they were engulfed by flames. Immediately Dawn brought distance between them, causing Twilight to rush after her.
Her fiery fists cut through the air, the first blow meant for her opponent’s stomach missing as the red girl managed to jump backwards in time. More flaming strikes went out, their target only barely dodging them again and again. But Twilight’s assault was not without thought, as Dawn learned when her back hit the hard bark of a tree. Even with the jolt of pain from her recently aquired burn mark on her back, she could retain enough focus to see the two burning fists hurtling towards her.
Reacting on instinct, her own hands meeting Twilight’s and locking them in a grapple. The young student’s malicious grin froze in confusion as her opponent held against her. There was no cry of pain, not even a strained face, despite the hot fire engulfing now both of their hands. Instead, Dawn fought against the purple girl’s own strength, slowly but surely pushing her back.
Before Twilight could break the sudden stalemate, an unearthly screech pierced the air, physically slamming into the crazed scientist and carrying her several feet before she meet the ground, dragging a long grove after her.
Dawn looked after, before turning to the source of the screech when her name sounded.
“Dawn! Get her out of here!” Aria yelled as she ran past her friend as fast as the limb on her right leg allowed it.
“No, I’m helping you! We’ll take her together!” Dawn argued fiercely.
“You help me by staying out of my way so I don’t have to worry about you!” Aria all but snarled, eyes kept forward as Twilight was already getting up again. “You don’t have anything to throw against her, so GET AWAY!”
Punching into the air towards them, Twilight released a powerful blast of telekenetic force again, which was met by another of Aria’s screech. Leaves were ripped of nearby trees as the blast was forefully broken up and released into the air.
“Dawn. Please, go, now.” There was something in Aria’s voice that had never been there since Dawn had met her. Ice-cold focus. A calm but sharp tone. She backed away, pulling Sunny off the ground and over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Risking a short glance over her other shoulder she ran as fast as possible away from the fight.
Twilight stared with narrowed eyes against her opposition. She could see the ripples around Aria, the distortion in the air caused by small sonic waves. In fact, she could sense them. But she also knew that Aria was not really that powerful, not anymore. With as much energy as she had, accidentally mayhaps, taken from the woman, there should be enough left to overpower this strange woman. She just had to avoid getting her newfound power leeched away again.
Her arms reached out once again, this time grasping two of the thicker apple trees. Her arms went luminescent, pulsing heavily as she strained and ripped them out of the ground with most of the roots. Aria immediately started to charge her running between the trees with apparently little concern to them. Twilight flexed her fingers, and the trees were suddenly alight with fire, before hurtling themselves against the running siren.
With a loud crash the two burning trunks met in the air, shattering branches and falling to the ground heavily, but they had missed their target by a wide margin. Already planning her next attack, Twilight dropped to one knee.
Keeping her eyes locked on her enemy, she began to pound the ground with her fists. If she’d be of clearer mind, she would have wondered why such motions were even necessary for the casting, if they were at all, or maybe she would be concerened that she had a suprisingly good control and instinctive use over this magic.
Aria had only a moment to react as ice spikes shot out of the ground. The first one almost got her, but the ones after that she managed to dodge. She weaved through between them, not even getting a scratch but closing distance at great speed.
The moment she got too close, Twilight stopped her pounding to face her upright. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled a plume of fire like a dragon into the ice spikes, quickly melting them into water. She only stopped once her own breath ran out, but before she could scan for remains of her foe, a strong impact pushed her head into the dirt. Aria used Twilight’s head like a stepping stone, landing behind her and rolling off the rest of her leap’s momentum.
Quickly turning she prepared to stun her opponent with another cry. Just as the scream formed in her throat and was released, Twilight shot a haphazard bolt of lighting towards her. Both attacks went through eachother, hitting their target full on. Yet where Twilight’s bolt showed instant effect, sending Aria to her knees as electricity locked up her limbs, the scream was cut short and thus its effect minimized.
Twilight felt herself not able to move for a moment, before it began to lessen already and she managed to push it off and stand up. Aria was not able to recover as fast, trying to make her mouth work but only emitting stutters and cut up words.
With an angry scream, Twilight wrenched her off the ground and threw her straight behind her, through the trees.
The exact direction that Dawn had also made her escape into. And, as chance would have it, the direction from which they had originally been running from.
Dawn noticed this when she heard a loud crash behind her. Soon, a new screech she knew belonged to Aria and the following sound of splintering woods reached her ears, though they suddenly concerningly close to her. Pushing onwards she ran out into a clearing.
In the middle was a single tree, bigger then the rest of the ochard, with a sizable tree house just a few feet off the ground level.
Yet she had little time to take in the sight as new sounds of combat echoed behind her. Just as she had decided to keep going, Aria ran onto the clearing behind her, throwing herself to the right to dodge several icicles that embedded themselves into the rough dirt.
Rolling to a crouch, Aria let loose a shout like a rifle shot, sending a shockwave that threw up dirt, dust and leaves like a smokecloud into the ochard.
“We should split up, maybe-“ Her order was cut short as flames burst through the impromptu smoke cover, moving in a wide area and clearing much of the debris. Aria immediately went behind one of the thicker trees while Dawn tried to increase distance to the treeline.
Jumping out of cover, Aria was surprised by a new blast of telekenetic force, this one crashing into her from above, driving her into the earth and pressing a crater into the ground. Twilight stepped out from between the burning trees, her eyes fixated on where her opponent had just disappeared into. Her luminescent hands weaved through the air, willing the dirt to move over the whole, sealing it. With two fists Twilight pressed the loose material firm, leaving a relatively stable patch of dirt behind.
“Right, now to you two.” She said, turning to the fleeing girls. “Absconding, are we? No, no that won’t do.”
Dawn screamed out in pain as an invisbile force closed around her, ripping her backwards in the air while also threatening to crush her. Sunny was similarly pulled back, groaning as she weakly flailed around.
“D-don’t do this…” The red girl managed to speak out between her teeth clenched through the pain, as she came to a stop hovering over Twilight. Her limbs felt like they were all pulled backwards and in different directions.
The crazed student however stared at her with cold eyes and malicious intent. “Oh, like you are in any position to tell me what to do. I went here for you, but now you try to stop me! Can’t trust anyone these days.” She smiled smugly, increasing the crushing pressure on Dawn. “Good thing that I don’t have to trust people anymore. I have these wonderful powers! Should be enough to do what needs to be done alone. Starting here!”
The purple girl now put her eyes on Sunny Flare, taking a couple of steps towards the hovering girl. Fire once again engulfed her hand, making the cyan student whimper weakly. Reaching out, her victim rotated in the air so that her head came ever close to the flaming hand. Sunny’s own hands were dragged away to free her mouth, which was also forced open. Twilight prepared to exact her punishment-
“I-it w-o-n’t ma-ke y-ou h-ap-py.” She stopped, then turned her head slowly towards the croaked words. The hold on Dawn had lessened in strength, though the red girl still had to power through her pain to bring these words out.
“What. Did you. Just say?” Twilight’s words were quiet. Yet still her focus was entirely on Dawn now, dropping Sunny to the floor unceremoniously. So narrowed on the floating red girl was she that she didn’t even notice something breaking through the nearby ground and dragging itself out of a hole in the dirt.
“R-revenge won’t h-elp you…” Dawn pressed out. Her eyes had trouble to stay open, yet she tried to look into Twilight’s. Tears were trickling down her cheeks. “Yo-u’ll n-ever be happ-y. P-please, stop a-and f-forgi-“
The last word was the final straw.
“SHUT UP!” Twilight screamed. Her hands twisted and she pulled them apart as if she was ripping something.
Bones were broken with loud, ugly sounds, mixed with Dawn’s tortured sreeches. Then she was brutally smashed into the ground. Her arms, mangled and shattered beyond repair, twitched as she tried to move through the pain, but it was impossible. The same was for her legs.
“DAWN!” Twilight snapped to Aria, who had just stood up after crawling out of her temporary prison. The lightning summoned to the student’s hands was dissipated as an earsplitting screech ripped into her body. Cloth tore and cuts formed on her skin as blood trickled out of her ears.
Gasping for breath, Twilight had barely time to formulate a response before the next attack hit her, then the next and the next. She fell to one knee, now bleeding from more than a dozen small wounds.
Aria was walking towards her, her crimson eyes filled with murder and a lust for blood. It was the first time that Twilight was actually scared this day, especially since she had absorbed the energy. The next attack was met a blast of telekenetic force, which only succeeded on weakening the effect but not able to prevent it.
However, Aria also did not have the capability to sustain such a series of attacks, this far into the fight after having a large chunk of her reserves be siphoned away. Thus, the delay between each blast grew more and more and the force grew ever weaker.
Twilight, wounded though she was, was not yet defeated. Slamming one hand on the ground, she let a pillar of fire burst from where Aria had just stood. The siren immediately dodged to the right, but her attacks were now interrupted.
The purple student sent out another telekinetic grip, however this one was almost instantly hit by another blast which dissipated the magic quickly. Thinking on her feet, Twilight summoned multiple ice spikes from the ground to try and skewer Aria.
The nimble girl once again danced between them, even faster and more aggressively as the first time. Then, a ring of these spikes burst around Twilight just as she was about to reach the crazed girl. Aria jumped onto the outer side as the spikes grew out of the ground before swinging on and over them…
Right into a prepared blast of force, knocking her upwards into the air.
Twilight stretched her hands upwards, ripping one of the larger ice pillars out of the ground. Timing it almost perfectly, she swung it like a bat, sending Aria flying straight through the wooden wall and into the tree house.
Looking around her arms glowed stronger yet again as she gathered the fires around her, before sending them against the wooden structure. Immediately the flames caught on and started to consume it.
“And just stay down this time…” She grumbled angrily. Then she looked around before letting her eyes fall on Sunny Flare again, who was trying to sit up with great difficulty. “Alright. Where were we? Ah yes.”
Not far from her, Dawn was lying on the ground. Her limbs stuck out at angles that would make many people nauseous at the sight alone. They hurt her like hell, numbing her mind with all the pain. Only ragged, forced breaths and the occasional twitch when she fruitlessly tried to move showed that there was still life within the red-skinned girl.
It felt like she was underwater, barely able to breath, with everything muted and filtered. Even so she still recognized Twilight’s voice moving away from her. With great pain, she slowly lifted her head. Her sight was extremely blurry, fading in and out, yet with all the focus she could muster she saw the crazed girl casually walking towards the other student.
Then it changed.
She wasn’t in an apple orchard anymore. No. She was… in a building.
And Twilight was not there either. In her stead was a girl in a dress, a crown on her head. Her skin was amber instead of purple. Her hair was fiery. Yet the eyes stayed the same.
Hungry for power. Driven mad because of it.
Underneath it… wounded. Lost.
Alone.
She was in the Orchard again. Her mind was playing tricks on her. Did that mean that she was dying?
Everything changed once more, like the first time it was a flash, both places, both girls overlapping. Everytime, they blended more and more together.
Dawn tried to move, to do something to stop Twilight. But it was useless. She was useless. Broken.
The images flickered together constantly now. Then the amber girl started to change. Her skin deepened to a fleshy red tone. Her hair grew and started to float, revealing two bat-like wings that were growing out of her back. The entire figure started get taller, setting her more apart from the smaller Twilight. A tail sprouted, along with claws and fangs.
Yet the eyes didn’t change. Both still held the same anger, the lust for power, for magic. The same brokeness.
Dawn fought with all her might, yet the only thing she managed was to drive even more pain through her limbs. She had to stop this somehow. Otherwise, Twilight would do something that she would regret for the rest of her life.
She had to do something. If not then…
…then Twilight would make the same mistake she had almost done herself.
She couldn’t let another person fall down into the spiral of petty revenge. She owed it to Twilight.
She owed it to everybody.
Her left arm felt like it was stuck in molten magma, yet she strained it to the limit. Finally it moved, falling onto the grass. She screamed, but with her throat ravaged from all her previous cries, it came out as a hoarse whimper. The grass felt slick between her fingers, was it her blood? Did she finally ripped every bone loose from eachother?
Dawn didn’t care to think about it. Through the torment she focused on getting to Twilight and stopping this madness. Her left hand clutched the grass and, with burning muscles, it pulled.
One good thing about her torture here, Dawn was very quickly learning to bite through the pain. She couldn’t drag herself far with only one hand, but she was making progress.
Then, with similar effort, she slammed her other arm onto the ground, ignoring the pain in favor of dragging her body forward with both hands. Her pace picked up accordingly. With each pull, her arms managed to reach just a bit farther ahead, grasp with just a bit more strength.
The spot where she had crumbled down was soon behind her, just a patch of pressed down grass and upset earth. There was no blood.
Not anymore.
So ignorant, so accustomed to the constant pain had Dawn grown so quickly, she failed to notice it lessening. Her focus was solely on Twilight, and her wish to prevent the young girl from completely falling into the powerdriven madness.
One of her legs twitched as it was dragged along. It moved, unfocused and sloppy, before finally getting its foot on the ground. Then it pressed upwards.
Twilight was standing before Sunny Flare. Exhaustion was making itself known, she was somehow aware that her energy reserves were drastically depleted. She still had a good amount, but not nearly as much as even just fifteen minutes earlier.
In front of her, Sunny Flare stared back. The young student had regained enough strength to stand, albeit be it very wobbly. Her eyes were surprisingly not filled with hatred like her counterpart’s had been. Instead, she showed simple sadness. Behind her the treehouse was falling apart. The side facing them was quickly consumed by the flames, causing the other half to lose its stability and crush onto the ground. Luckily, any additional screams meant it had probably been empty.
“Twilight. I’m sorry.” Sunny said genuinely. “I know it sounds empty, after all this shit, but I mean it.”
The purple scientist just stood there, processing the answer before giving a weak laugh. It did not hold as much malice as before, giving Sunny a small piece of hope. “That’s a bit too late now, don’t you think?”
Twilight gestured around the ravaged orchard. In the distance, she could very faintly hear a dog barking wildly. “I won’t just turn back now, Sunny. I can’t stop and not do this to the end.”
“That is bullshit, Twilight.” Sunny replied, this time with more determination. “You cannot? What should stop you? It’s a choice, not a must!”
“I really don’t want to discuss philosophy right now.” Twilight once more fired up her hands. “Any last words?”
Sunny stared at her for a second, then she leaned her head slightly to peak behind the purple scientist. “I have not a single idea about all that happened today. Maybe I’m just hallucinating, but I gotta say…”
Although she was tired, she smiled. “…that’s disgusting, but kinda dope.”
Twilight frowned, confused. Her curiosity got the better of her and she turned to look behind herself, even as a part of her mind screamed to not fall for this obvious trick.
Said part was silenced as she saw Dawn standing behind her, almost within arms reach.
The flames around her hands spiked immediately as she whipped around, blasting them right into Dawn. But where it singed and burned at the red girl’s cloths, her skin was not affected. She simply braved the rush of flames like a strong gust of wind, stretching her arms towards Dawn.
Twilight cut the fire, now in a complete panic, and backed away horrified. One hand shot out and blasted Dawn’s right arm with powerful force, breaking the shoulder with a hearable impact.
But Dawn just ignored it. She rolled her shoulder, which emitted a horrible mixture of slithering and cracking sounds before jerking, and then it moved like nothing had been broken at all.
“W-w-what is this!?” Twilight stammered. She continued to stumble backwards when suddenly Sunny pushed into her back, sending the smaller girl forward and straight into Dawn.
Cardinal red arms wrapped around her as Dawn held the young scientist in a hug. She sank to her knees, dragging the other girl with her.
“I know what you’re going through.” She whispered. “You’re angry. Wanting to lash out against those that wronged you, who stiffled your growth and kept you down. You want to feel powerful. But this is not the way. This magic, it cannot help you in a way that will change this for the better, not now atleast.”
Twilight struggled, trying desperately to escape, but then she felt something behind her. Sunny knelt down beside them, leaning her own forehead against Dawn’s shoulder and putting one arm over each of the other girl’s backs.
“Please, just let it go. There are better ways to do it. Let me help you.” They both felt their magic touching. Twilight was scared, while Dawn grasped out. The purple student felt a tug and then a strong pull inside; it was pulling away at her magic. But unlike when Aria had tried something similar, this time it was less painful.
Atleast in the literal sense. She wanted to struggle, as she felt her power leaving her. It was almost like pain, becoming weaker and weaker, the warmth of this new energy being siphoned out of her body.
But right here, held by two girls she had hurt, even tried to kill, only for them to embrace and wanting to help her…
Her anger, sustained by all the accumulated pain and expressed by her destructive wrath, started to fade finally.
Her hatred, concentrated after years and years of bullying and stiflement in her school, it lost its focus.
It both left her, exposing what lay underneath the shy yet curios girl.
A lonely soul.
So, it all flowed out of her.
Her anger.
Her hate.
Her bitterness.
Her tears.
Her powers.
And as the last remains of her magic was softly taken, only young Twilight Sparkle remained.
Slow, heavy feet approached the hugging trio as the last of the quiet sobs began to subside. They stopped just short of them, still unnoticed. Akwardly, she coughed.
“I… I think we should go.” Aria said. Her face was half covered in blood, baked to her skin by the fire. Her once beautiful hair was now dirty, singed and frazzled, quite a bit of it lost in the fight. Her clothes were only slightly better then Dawn’s, though the siren had carried significantly more surface injuries. Such as burns, lots of burns.
Sunny seperated herself from the small group hug, shakingly getting to her feet and holding her still hurting back. Dawn followed. Instead of helping Twilight to stand too she wordlessly hoisted the young girl up in her arms.
Twilight did not seem to mind. Her eyes were almost shut, a few tears still staining her cheeks. She remained silent and lost.
“Come on, let’s get a move on.” Aria said, waving them away from the path of destruction wrought through the forest. “I can already hear someone running towards here. Don’t feel like arguing right now.”
The rest followed her into the woods as fast as they could, which was surprisingly quick for Dawn, who put on a slow jog even while carrying another person.
Sunny on the other hand could only manage a slightly faster limb, until Aria stopped beside her and helped steady the student. Together they made their exit into the trees.
Silence filled the living room of Aria’s house. All four occupants were sitting on the sofa or on the ground, leaning against it to sit comfortably. The atmosphere was gloomy, slightly tense, all occupants still recovering and coming down from a brutal battle just an hour ago.
It reminded Dawn about the night when she had attacked her siren friend. A depressing comparison.
Aria was slowly making a round, inspecting every single one of them for injuries and administering treatment with what was available in the house. Luckily, they had stocked up on emergency medical supplies since the last fight. Dawn had refused when the siren had wanted to start with her, quietly arguing for the two newcomers to be treated first.
They all had carried injuries from the last hour, though luckily nothing greater than small cuts and wounds as well as some burns and heavy bruises. The problem was that Sunny lacked any magical means to compensate for any taken damage, be it resilience or a sudden healing factor, so even though she had theoratically taken the lightest punishment, she suffered the most from it.
Twilight on the other hand could thank the abundant magical energy for not suffering any real damage in the fight, as it had been able to reduce and partially regenerate most of her injuries to a non-severe point. However, when the absorbed energy had been taken away again it left her feeling weak and unsteady.
Now they sitting were on opposite ends of the couch, listening as Aria checked them up.
And Dawn told them. She spoke about Equestria; she told them what she and Aria truly were, creatures considered mythical in this world. She explained magic, what it meant in her world and now in this one. This was puntcuated when Aria started to sing a wordless, quiet song. Soon enough, they could all feel a cozy warmth spreading over their skin, helping in mending the numerous small cuts and bruises they had suffered, while bigger injuries lessened in pain.
But Dawn did not stop there. Once more in the span of only a couple of days, she recounted her journey to this world, leading to her rebirth as Dawn Fire. After that Aria took the lead as she finished applying gauze and bandages to Twilight’s injuries. In only a few, short sentences she explained the deal she had made with the young would-be scientist to get to Anon-A-Miss. How she had offered Twilight a means of revenge against her bullies and fueled that desire whenever she could.
While Sunny Flare listened to everything with wide eyes and complete attention, the purple girl turned her face away to hide the guilt on her face. There was no anger left in her to direct towards the siren. Only the knowledge that she had herself be manipulated to comit such actions as she did today.
For her part, Dawn took in Aria’s side of the story with as neutral an expression as she could manage. Just like Twilight, she wasn’t angry even though she should have been.
She should not have been too surprised that Aria would go behind her back, maybe she should even have anticipated it. Afterall, she knew what sirens were, what their nature dictated. But she also knew her friend. Aria was aware of what she had caused, this realization and the drive to fix it had become apparent when she had duelled Twilight. Even after all this, Dawn trusted her.
It was all too late now anyway. Now, they had to focus on the two students sitting in their house and what to do with them.
“…and well, the rest you know.” Aria ended her short explanation, sitting down next to Dawn and folding her hands. Silence followed.
“So uhm… this new, weird magic thing inside you.” Sunny Flare eventually asked, though she obviously felt not completely comfortable talking. Wether that was because of her question or the still tense atmosphere in the room mattered little. “That was why you could… unbreak your arms?”
“I think so. It’s, well we don’t know much about it. It might not even be the same thing, we don’t know yet.” Dawn replied, rubbing her forearms. Under her hands, the skin moved with the fingers but failed to smooth itself out at a normal pace, instead it stayed for a couple of seconds in place before returning slowly to a smooth surface. It felt like kneading dough.
She tried her best to simply ignore it. “Which was why we wanted to return to our world. To try and learn about it, so that I could control it better. Because, my limbs still feel strange after… you know what happened. I may have gotten extremely lucky that no bad side effects came out of it.”
Sunny Flare nodded dumbly, not even knowing how to take that response. She had just sprung to the first question that fell into her mind out of an effort to say something. Now she was quiet again. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Twilight spoke up in a quiet voice.
“So, you are going to leave?”
Dawn and Aria exchanged looks, worry and uncertainty present in both. “Well, that was the original plan.”
“When?” The young student asked.
“Sometime soon.”
“Alright.” Without another word, Twilight stood up and walked towards the front door.
Nobody tried to stop her as she left the room, until Sunny scrambled to her feet and went after her as quickly as she could. She was able to catch Twilight right in front of the door.
“Twilight?!”
The girl swirled around in a sudden burst of anger and raised her voice against her schoolmate. “Go away! You never cared about me, so just leave me alone already!”
Sunny took an involuntary step back at those hard words. For a moment her body tensed up as if it was expecting another attack, to be slammed around like a puppet by Twilight’s magic. Only she had no magic anymore.
“T-twilight I… Y-you are right. But, p-please listen to me! Just let me ask, I… was terrified, when you held all that power and when you almost… did, did you feel like this, whenever we tormented you?”
“No. Only when someone actually threatened me, and that was barely necessary.” Twilight spat back, but her voice lacked the venom to give her words a strong enough edge. She turned away again as she felt another tear build up in her eyes. “I just felt alone, and depressed, and angry.”
“Then please! Please, let me just try to make up for it! I know you have not a single reason to trust me and what I am saying, but I just-“ Sunny hesitantly reached forward with a hand to hold the young scientist by the shoulder, but was shrugged off. With the same motion, the door was wrenched open.
“Really! Sunny, just spare yourself the effort. Why would you do anything for me?” Twilight said bitterly and walking out, leaving behind a stunned Sunny Flare. It was because she had already turned away that Twilight could not see the tears falling down from the other girl’s eyes.
“I… I just want to help… please.” She said softly. But Twilight was already too far away to hear her.
It was however not too far away for her voice to carry back into the living room and the two magical beings sitting there.
“This is a mess.” Aria said, rubbing her forehead while staring tiredly at the floor.
“Mhm.”
“You’re alright, Dawn?” The red girl was staring after the two students with sadness in her eyes. In her mind she was not completely there, her thoughts lost, remembering her many, many arguments with her former mentor.
“I don’t even know.” She said, her words feeling empty. “I-I want to help, but…”
“Yeah. That is the question, isn’t it? Do we stay or do we go?” Aria asked out into the room.
Dawn did not reply. In her mind, she retread the few she had spent in this world. Hiding, lying about her identity. Ruling over an entire school.
“Because the thing is; with all the shit that happened today, I can promise you that someone is going to take notice and start investigating thing. It is not that safe here anymore, not for us. So we could just go home, stay away from all the trouble there until things have calmed down. You can learn about your new magic and all that, I have a couple of things that I would like to do, eventually. Buuut…”
“We would be abandoning them to all this.” Like she had abandoned Celestia, choosing freedom and her own selfish needs.
Or how she had been abandoned by the Rainbooms. They had chosen to fall back to how things had been and take false safety with it.
Aria sighed heavily. “That is the big problem.” Not long ago, she would not have understood why this could ever actually bother her. Now, she did.
Dawn looked up at her, their eyes meeting. Both recognized the other’s look and with it, the other’s intention. “You don’t want to do that too.”
“Heh, can’t believe I am saying it but yes. This, this is all my mistake, all of it. And I don’t want to run away from it this time. The question is though, what are we going to do with them?” The siren spoke with an empty chuckle, nodding towards the main door.
How everything had come down upon her on that day. Years of ‘ruling’ a highschool, out of petty anger and a need to do ‘greatness’. Resulting to thievery and abuse of a powerful magical artefact. How great she had felt with it, even as Sunset had transformed into a true monster. And how horrible she had been when all of it had been taken away again.
“I know what Twilight is feeling right now. I was in that situation. She is confused. She has all these emotions suddenly caving in on her, maybe a bit more anger than I had. And now that she has come down from the power-high, she feels the guilt. Of all the things she has done, could have done. She needs help. She needs someone to guide her through all this.”
Dawn looked to where the two students had disappeared. She thought about all that had happened today, how narrowingly they had avoided an even greater catastrophe. It reminded her of the Fall Formal. There she had almost lost herself to the magic. She had almost killed someone, she had wanted it.
The similarities from that day to this one became more and more apparent to her. And with that also came a great realization.
Of the chance that was presented to her, in this very moment. To do it correctly this time.
“She needs friends, Aria. And the only possible friends for her right now are us!” She said with pure determination. She knew the mistakes made last time and she would be damned if she’d just let them be repeated. “We can’t go. If we do, she will be lost.”
The siren nodded thoughtfully.
“What about the other one?” She then asked. “I think she is genuine atleast, with wanting to help.”
Dawn sighed. “Yes, but it is going to take a long time for them to clear things and have a chance with eachother.”
“Well, that means we are going to take the hard road. But also means we will do the right thing.” Aria stood up, stretching her back. She scoffed slightly. “Eh, you’re better at this whole goodie friendship thing. We will have to be very careful though, lay low and not get anymore attention to us than necessary.”
Dawn got to her feet as well, standing beside Aria. Her eyes lingered on a seemingly random spot on the floor, where some weeks ago she had fought with Aria. “You think we can do it? We didn’t really have the best track record for the last few months.”
“Hey, I survived centuries with two others of my kind. You think I can’t hold my own? With you?” The siren replied, confidently. Then, after those last two words, she smiled warmly. Two fuchsia fingers pressed against a cardinal red chin, turning it so that their eyes were locked. “I’m not worrying too much. Afterall, we got through all this shit already. The rest should be relatively easy to handle.”
She couldn’t help but smile, the warm touch and genuine words of her friend pressing away the glum thoughts. “Thank you Aria.”
“You too, Dawn.” Aria chuckled. “Honestly, you did a lot to change me. Don’t think I would have done any of this a couple of months ago. Before we met.”
“Yeah, feels so long ago already.” Dawn said quietly, almost whispering. Subconsciously, she slightly leaned against Aria’s shoulder, both of them temporarily lost in shared memories.
“That it does. Feels nice though.” They stood for a few moments, before Aria straightened herself, causing Dawn to do similar. Making sure to lean into her own confidence she walked towards the door, waving Dawn to follow her. “Now come on, before they run away completely or do something even worse.”
She desperately hoped that the girl, who had changed her life around, would not notice the blush on her cheeks.
Dawn took a deep breath and followed her closest friend, letting her own, renewed confidence strengthen her. They had a goal now and the resolve to achieve it.
Turning to the main entrance both Equestrians could easily see through the still open door. Sunny Flare was sitting on the stairs in front of the house, somberly watching Twilight Sparkle cross the road.
She only needed to share a short look with Aria to know what either of them would do. Quickening her pace she jogged past her friend crouching next to Sunny. She crossed the short distance to the wooden fence gate and ran over the road after the young girl.
“Twilight!”
Going back home was now as distant in the future as the thought was in her mind. She wanted to, so bad, it would have to wait. Learning about her new magic, visiting Princess Twilight. Meeting her mentor again. All of it.
She had promised herself that she would not wait too long. She had told Twilight that she would do it soon. But now, she would have to push it away from her mind, to focus on this world first.
Twilight would understand, Dawn knew she would, especially when she would get the opportunity to write her another journal entry.
“Wait a moment!”
The young girl stopped and turned. Tears were still drying on her face.
An odd group they were. A centuries old mystical creature; a being that thrived the strife it caused. Yet this drive to create conflict not only provided the final piece for this “monster” to change, but in the end, it was what would bring them all together.
A bullied, weak girl that had managed to discover a whole new world on her own. And even though she had given in to temptation and almost committed great destruction, there was still the chance for great things in her.
Then a random, until today uninvolved girl. Pulled in by happenstance and the odd ways of fate, she had nevertheless proven herself by giving her all in matters not only life-threatening, but also alien to her.
And lastly, Dawn herself. Reborn in flames,
They were all strange, but she could make it work, with time.
There are many schools and forms of magic frowned upon. Be it for their esoteric practices or unusual learning processes, they are disregarded and disliked, shunned and even hunted. However, many still follow such paths in hope of ascension to becoming a master of the arcane.
Lazily, the young unicorn sat under the tree, reading a book. Spread out beneath her was a soft blue-ish blanket with yellow stripes, so that she may not have to stain herself from the grass. Not that the pony would mind it terribly much.
Next to her was a small grouping of a sizable basket and a bunch of saddlebags. Laid out in front of her stood a couple of bottles, alongside two plates. From one, juicy looking fruit slices invited anyone with hunger to indulge them.
One of such practices is the ‘Way of the Body’, as the idealists of the Cloudthroat like to call it. Professionals like myself have long since attributed a more befitting name to the art of shaping active and living matter to our will. A more, simplistic yet elegant designation of this craft, equal to those long-since accepted by the stuck-ups in their fancy schools. Biomancy.
By all accounts, this mare would not look out of place in a painting. Her spot was right on top of a small cliffside that overlooked the sea, a nearby path leading easily to a wonderful beach. She was serene in her calmness, reading her old, leatherbound tome. Only sometimes did she lift a snack from the second plate to her mouth.
Biomancy is in on itself a family name for five different disciplines that have thus far been breached by our bright minds. This magic beholds so many secrets and possibilities! To bring a body back to life, not by binding a soul to it or turning it to an affront against life but by simply bringing the vessel itself back to complete function. Healing a wound not by forming energy to bind it shut but by allowing the skin and muscle to knit itself together. Entire limbs could be brought back like this with ease and no complications!
And there were no signs of any ill-workings or misdeeds, only genuine peace. Only two things might raise the brow of an inquisitive observer. For one, the book seemed incredibly old and used. The cover had lost much of its colour, the paper was thin and looked as if it would break easily. Faded magical symbols adorned the book, a knowledgable individual could identify them as the only thing preserving this book from turning to dust, even though the glyphs seemed ancient in their own right.
The other thing was that the second plate, from which the mare was happily eating from, contained strips of raw meat.
The aformentioned Cloudthroat monks might be religious idiots, praying to their fever dream goddesses that they call ‘They of All Our Flesh’; no one can deny that their disciples are not masters of what we call carnesmancy, or flesh magic. The arcana to mold the substance of every living being into new creatures or weapons is as terrifying as it is intriguing and with gritted teeth have many of my collegues been forced to admit that even our masters of this craft are found wanting when compared.
Onto this scene a new creature walked. Or slithered.
A long, serpentine body dragged itself forward on only two hoofed limbs, its lower half moving reminiscient of a snake. The sunlight reflected off the remaining water that still clung onto brilliantly purple scales. Translucent fins crested her head and the end of her tail, shimmering in a woven mix of fuchsia and turquoise.
It was a Siren, a mythical monster even in these lands, as evidenced by the blood red crystal that shone from the creature’s chest. It radiated the same light as the sea monster’s eyes as it looked down at the reading pony, easily towering at twice her height.
Even greater though in skill and knowledge I must say, are their high priest. The Flesh Weavers, or ‘Followers of the True Mistressess’ as they call themselves, the ‘True Mistresses’ being their tribal dual-deity. I had the fortune of talking with several about their craft, even though they managed to hide most of what I wanted behind lectures and empty plattitudes over their ‘mistresses’.
“Is it always going to be like this?” Aria asked as she dropped the three fish from between her razor-sharp teeth. “I work while you sit and read.” Despite the question, there was only playfulness in her voice.
“We both know that I am working, you just want to be lazy and doze in the sun.” The unicorn replied with a smile as she flipped a page. In response Aria snorted and half moved-slithered behind and around her friend. Her forelegs crossed right next to the smaller pony, while her tail was draped over the other’s torso. This caused the mare to complain. “Aaaria, you’re still wet!”
“Aww, can little Dawn not handle a bit of water?” The Siren teased with a shark grin. Her snout nuzzled through the fiery hair of her friend to further annoy her.
These Flesh Weavers have achieved a proccess they call ‘Embracing the Aspect of Life’. It is, as far as I have managed to find out, a sort of preparation to join the ranks of Flesh Weavers. The Acolytes not only forego physical but also spiritual training. Atleast as they have told me, to truly command the flesh one must allow it to change, and allow the mind to become truly open.
“W-will yo-u stop i-it!” Dawn demanded, though her command was almost lost in childish giggling. Finally the Siren relented and sat her larger head onto the smaller pony one beneath her.
“Hmm. I don’t think I ever will.” She responded. Just then the shimmering fins on her tail flapped out to their fullest extend and moved in front of Dawn’s face. Aria grinned wholeheartedly as she waved it around like a classical fan, ignoring the pony beneath her attempting to stop her.
As charlatanian as it sounds, upon subtle inspection I discovered they are not completely wrong. A Flesh Weaver’s body has transcended, for lack of a better term, beyond their normal form and thus can be molded by the wielder to an unfathomible degree and an ease that I still think of with envy. I saw them perform and truly, they treat their bodies like a potter works with clay, so perfect and flawless did they grow limbs or changed their flesh into too many things to write.
As the sun was slowly dipping towards the horizon, the pair collected their things and prepared to be on their way back. Just as Dawn was done with stuffing everything away, she could hear the beautiful song of her friend again.
With a pulsing gem, Aria produced a specific set of tunes, before her whole body began to glow. It reformed and contorted and before long a pony with similar complexion stretched her legs. The long mane was mostly purple with turquoise streaks through it.
“Right, let’s be on our way, before Miss Princess starts to worry because we missed her schedule.” She said.
“Well, we were pretty late last time.” Dawn replied with a smile. “And that is how Twilight just is. I am looking forward to study with her, she should be most interested in what we found so far.”
The siren, now in pony form, rolled her eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh. “Yeah, two full days where you leave me alone to give her more things to nerd out over. Greeeaaat. Just don’t be surprised when I go off into the forest to hunt something. Don’t want her Highness to throw a fit, especially since I am nice enough already to spare her precious townsfolk. I want atleast something in me before we go back through the portal.
Such wonders I have witnessed, I see myself forced to not only regard their teachings but accept them as a source for my work, until I have found the essence of this art myself. This also means that I need to look at the second part of the ‘Embracing’. Though I find this heavily doubtful and, in all possibility, simply ritualistic nonsense; the monks say that a being can only fully command the flesh if it is sanguine with its spirit. For reference, I have an exert one of them was kind enough to write for me at the end of the book.
“I do hope everything is fine over there.” Dawn said, looking into the far as they casually trotted along the path. In the distance, one could make out a small village. “I mean yes, I know, we can communicate with Twilight and Sunny through the journal now. But there is still so much that could happen that they don’t tell us! I mean, it could be lost, or stolen, or-“
She was interrupted as a fuchsia-furred hoof draped across her shoulders. For good measure, Aria also nuzzled her shortly before speaking. “When will you learn to not be an overbearing mommy? They are fine, we have been receiving updates every three days atleast. You think all the progress we made with them is going to dissipate in a mere two weeks? They can tolerate eachother. Hell, since that stupid School Contest they can actively work together!”
“You’re right.” Dawn confessed embarrassed. Then her eyes widened momentarily. “Also, I am not acting like a mom!”
“Yeah sure.” Aria replied.
Dawn blew her a raspberry.
Aria blew one right back at her.
Staring at eachother, it did not take long for them to fall into giggling.
“Now come on, enough time wasted. Twilight is probably getting anxious already.” Dawn said. Her horn lit up in arcane energy, bathing both creatures in a soft red glow.
Then, with a pop, they vanished.
Fall had come to Canterlot. The sun had sunken beneath the horizon only a couple of hours ago, and yet the streets were already crawling with monsters. Everywhere she looked, she could see them. Creatures of horror, and she stood amongst them. It had truly been too long…
“HALLOWEEN PARTEEEE!!!” Pinkie shouted with unmatched glee. The people around her cheered and applauded as she summersaulted of the back of her friend’s truck, landing with a loud clack of her boots. Her long robes slowly settled around her, the black cape big enough to hide her entire body and excellent for just such dramatic stunts.
Straightening herself, Pinkie smiled brightly behind a mask that resembled most of a human skull, the straps hidden like her mass of hair underneath a long and pointy hat. And just like her cape, and the inctricate jacket and suit she wore underneath, it was all a rich black.
Unsheathing a delicately carved wooden stick, she waved it around in a random pattern. “I ORDER you to enjoy this awesome party! Hookidy Pookidy!” People laughed and clapped again, many shouting in agreement and continuing in direction of the nearby attractions.
Behind the lively pink girl, a scarecrow climbed out of the truck’s driver cabin. The top of its head-sack was shorn open, revealing a lot of straw as well as an exposed human brain that jiggled around. At multiple spots, the thing’s clothing was torn open to reveal yet more straw and flesh underneath.
“Ah must say Pinkie,” The Scarecrow spoke, putting a single straw between its lips. “This year’s party is a mighty fine thing, from ta looks of it. Can’t remember when we had it this big ‘n nice before.”
The country girl gestured towards the attractions. Just outside the city, multiple patches of grass and some empty fields had been built upon to host this year’s halloween festival. It was truly a sight to behild.
An entire parking lot had a big stage built on one end, the other side holding dozens of banks and tables with more than enough of empty space between to serve as a dance floor for the celebrating masses. Currently, the band was lead by a menacing duo playing strange yet catchy music with a mixture of an electric cello and a full drumseat plus keyboard. The two musicians both had what looked like hooks with loose string sunken into their shoulders, joints and other body parts.
Not only was their combined outfit striking, they played up a storm, stirring those on the 'dance' floor into energetic motion. From outside, someone might wonder how the crowd maintained their seemingly endless energy. But neither Applejack and, especially, Pinkie did bother to question it. They were starting to get restless from the music themselves, even at this distance.
"Those two really are really putting on a show." Pinkie exclaimed, twirling around a couple of times and enjoying the swirl of bright lights all around her. Applejack just nodded wistfully and let her gaze wander over her surroundings. As great as it was to just mingle and enjoy the atmosphere, they wanted to find the rest of the group. "I'm glad they're doing ok now. Octy really deserves it."
"Yep, we all been doing good again." AJ agreed, though her mumbling was mostly drowned out by their surroundings. Not that it mattered much.
"Ah think Ah see them Pinks."
And indeed, there in the crowd she could make out the rest of her close friends, costumized as they were. It probably helped that Rainbow Dash had done nothing to hide her signature hair. She had chosen a costume which consisted mostly of a deep red uniform and a pair of thin stockings that had some holes in them. The most prominent part however was her left arm. Rainbow had crafted herself a cast that was painted in swirling streaks of deep black and crimson red, giving the now bigger-sized arm with long claws the appearance as if it was made out of fire. Said arm soon waved through the air as the athlete spotted her friends.
With her were the other two members of the group. Rarity had her purple hair flow freely back over her uncharactersitly dirty and used blue coat, which opened to reveal similarly dirty, brown pants and and an aristocratic blouse. There were (fake) daggers stuck in her belt alongside a pickaxe that looked too real and too sharp to be used for a costume. To top it all off, the fashionista had placed a wide-brimmed hat with a cylinder point on it.
She also waved to her friends, briefly turning away from the ghostly horror next to her.
If Applejack were to come across Fluttershy like this, late at night in the dark, there would be a real chance the farm girl would believe to have come across a genuine ghost.
The make-up let her skin glow and sparkle ever so slightly in the multiple lights; her hair was shaded just slightly lighter then the skin and clothes, giving a sense of translucence to the strands flowing into almost every direction from the head. Just like Rarity, Fluttershy had straightened her hair down, partially hiding her face.
Still, the normally shy girl's smile was visible as she spotted her friends approaching. She seemed strangely at ease, even in such a big crowd that would normally have her retreat behind her hair. It had only been worse then normal during the last six months or so; yet the Fluttershy here stood straight on smiling, uncaring to the masses around her.
"Daaang girls! You look awesome tonight!" Pinkie bounced over them, AJ following her at a more leasurely pace.
Rainbow smirked widely as she heard her energetic friend. "What, you think we would show up with a bed sheet that we cut holes into? Of COURSE we look awesome, because we are!" Her last words came out more as a shout, accompanied her raising her mismatched fists into the air. This caused several other costumed party-goers to also punch their fists upwards and howl energetically, including a particularly big individual dressed only in a robe from the waist down, the big pyramid-shaped thing on his head muffling his shout of "YEEEAAAAAH!" It was unlikely any of them had actually heard what had been said.
Rainbow grinned as she lowered her arms again. "Man, the party-atmosphere here is wild!" She exclaimed, bouncing on the spot almost like Pinkie was. "So, what are we gonna do first?"
"The scare attractions first, definitely." Rarity said matter-of-fact. "I don't want to spent money on food only for some of us to loose theirs because they fell into something."
Rainbow groaned heavily, much to the rest's entertainment. "Oh come on! I fell right into it and it was disgusting. I wanna see you hold your stomach then!"
"There is a super-duper-big maze they set up, we can do that one first and then get something to drink. I saw this really cool smoothie stand." Pinkie was already going into the direction oof the maze as she spoke, the rest of the group simply following her.
"Yeah right, this way AJ won't need to worry about having to change her pants." Rainbow cackled as she ducked under AJ's arm and sprinted to the other side of the group. The farm girl growled and muttered under her breath, fixating the athlete with a short glare.
Luckily for Rainbow, the maze was nearby. And it truly was impressive, the hedge walls reaching a head higher then even Applejack's brother Big Mac. The entrace was a stone archway resembling a gothic church. In front of it were pair of pedestals with two gargoyles biding people entrance. Electrical torches gave off a flickering light, making the carved depictions of skulls and bones over the entrance that much more ominous. Just behind the stone archway, a wall was sliding out from the side, closing the way behind a group of party goers that had just entered. Only a minute later in slowly ground back, revealing empty space and allowing fog to spill out from the maze. There was a small orchestra of strange sounds, growling and the occasional scream coming from deeper of the maze.
The five girls took it all in before looking at each other. One after the other, grins were spreading across most of their faces.
"Allright! Looks like we're at the fun house!" Rainbow cheered.
"I am starting to think that this was a bad idea." Sweetie quietly said to herself, her hands tightening their grip.
"What!"
"I said, this is a bad idea!" She yelled back at Scootaloo, turning her head so that her friend might be able to read her lips. In front of them, Appleboom just rolled her eyes.
The trio was slowly making their way through the literal maze they had managed to trap themselves in. Whoever had designed it had obviously spared no expense at all. There were multiple clearings and small rooms with amazing looking setpieces, from a graveyard to a wooden bridge leading over a small swamp, a courtyard-like area with torn bodies, what looked like a ruined chapel area. It was wonderfully atmospheric, authentic, and extremely frightening to go through.
It certainly did not help that the walls were actually moving, much like the entrance of the maze. They had passed through some areas multiple times by now, and yet the pathways before and after these clearings had not been the same. The only constant was the fog flowing over the ground and the sounds of chittering, whispering, and screaming that echoed from all around.
It would have been a scary journey for sure, for the CMC however, it was complicated even further. For their costumes they had gotten a rather unique idea, one that had sounded so good at the time, though now, they were certainly regreting it. All three were clad in warm clothing, over which they had draped hospital gowns that were spattered with blood stains. Sweetie Belle had wrapped multiple layers of bloodied bandages over her face to cover her eyes, leaving her completely blind, with fake-blood applied so as to imitate bloody tears coming from under the wraps.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo also had blood-stained bandages around their heads, though they had completely covered their mouth and ears respectively. And so, each member of the small group had one of their primary senses blocked, having to rely on their teamwork to keep together and able to move forward. In the maze however, their decision slowly began to turn on them. Sweetie, not able to see a thing, was condemned to keep her ears sharp, though since neither of her friends could speak much she had to mostly listen to the creepy background noises. Scootaloo on the other hand had to content with a numb silence while walking ever further into the maze, which left her vulnerable and paranoid. And while Applebloom was able to see and hear clearly enough, she was unable to communicate and calm down her friends.
Even through communication was difficult, each member knew that the others agreed with them. Going like this into a haunted maze had not been the best idea.
"OH COME OON!" Scootalo said, or rather yelled, causing Sweetie and Bloom to flinch. They had once again entered the room with the swamp bridge.
Sighing into her bandages, Applebloom marched forward, pulling her friends after her. At first, walking over the rickety-looking construction was a daunting process. Now, after about four or five times, they had lost their apprehension for it. The only new thing was the unusually strong amount of fog.
That was, until the fog was blown away, revealing the rest of the bridge. And the person standing upon it.
All three girls came to a sudden halt, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo freezing in their tracks at the sight, while Sweetie Belle tensed up as she sensed her friends doing the same.
The woman in front of them was tall, adorned in a heavy-looking victorian dress that reached the wooden planks. Over the multiple layers of black cloth and silk, what appeared to be two metal plates covered most of the sides of the massive skirt, small spike-like studs glimmering in the diffuse light. In contrast to the heavy skirt, the upper part of the dress only seemed to consist of a sturdy corsett with shoulderless sleeves attached. This showed both the woman's strong arms and a impressive view of her cleavage, her skin pale and grey like marble. However, there were multiple things drawing the girl's eyes instead of that.
For one, utop the figure's head sat a cruel looking metal headpeace shaped like a spear-head, leaving only the woman's mouth and chin free. A mouth that dripped with gleaming blood, just like both of her hands. The hands that held a massive greatsword.
"W-we're fine! This is a simple attraction, they cannot h-hurt us." Scootaloo sqeaked. In her false confidence, she took a step forward, only to stop as the woman's voice echoed through the air.
"A lie." The way the woman's mouth moved felt simply wrong, it didn't match with the words and yet they all heard it. Bloom was staring at the sharp teeth as they moved, she felt reminded of a predator giving its meal a playful grin. Scootaloo frantically tucked her friends away, wanting to run the way they came. She had also heard the voice, loud and clear.
"You really like your lies. You tell them to your friends. You tell them to your family. Even…" The woman stepped forward, the wood creaking under her. "… to yourself!"
Shaking, the trio backed away from the towering figure as it approached. Sweetie Belle pulled desperately on the arms of her friends, trying to get them to run away. They would not however. Almost as if hypnotized, they stared at the woman's mouth as she stepped closer and closer to them.
"So many lies, too many lies." She sang, lifting her massive sword and twirling on the spot like a dancer, before turning back towards the trio.
"W-we should l-leave." Sweetie urged on, pulling as strong as she could on her friends, yet they still wouldn't budge. Scootaloo was holding her own head, shaking it as if to loose the voice that somehow spoke clearly in her ears.
"Especially the lie that you told about Sunset!"
Their bodies went ice-cold. A sickness formed in their stomachs, a festering feeling of fear and dread.
Realization. This was definitely not part of the attraction. And with that, all bets were off. None of them knew what could happen next.
The Greatsword suddenly seemed a lot sharper than before; as it lazily cleaved through the air, it made a sound that put the girls' spine on ice. Even Scootaloo traced the sharp tip with her eyes, shaking like a leaf.
"H-how do you… who… Who are you!" Sweetie Belle yelled, panic threatening to rob her of her sweet voice. All three started to back away frantically, yet as Apple Bloom turned, she saw nothing but hedges. As usual, their entry-way was closed.
The woman was now right in the middle of the bridge, with her prey backed against the wall in front of her. Out of her immediate reach, but it would not take long to cross it. Not long at all. She grinned, a savage and vicious smile of dagger-like teeth.
Apple Bloom whimpered behind her bandages, trying to put herself in front of her friends even though she wanted to run and not look back. Sweetie Belle could only keep herself upright by clinging to her friends, real tears trying to force their way out from under her coverings.
It was Scootaloo who finally cracked, her voice already shrill from not being able to hear herself talk for some hours now, made only worse by mortal terror. "WE'RE SORRY-Y-Y!!" She wailed, water flowing freely, her knees giving in and letting her fall onto them. "Please! We k-knohow we fucked it, ple-ase don't h-hurt us!" It was hard to speak without being interrupted by hick-ups.
The woman's grin changed, the edges of her mouth turning down, her teeth still barred. She kept advancing.
"Are you? If you were sorry, you have not acted like it. You still hide behind your lies like cowards." With only one step she was suddenly right in front of them. Even though neither hand nor blade struck out, the surprise of her sudden dash caused the CMC to jump back collectively, with all three now on the ground. In terror, they held eachother like lifelines.
The figure towered over them like an angel of death. The fog seemed to dance around her, looking as if it was alive.
"Shouldn't a mistake so heavy carry a consequence with it? Because I don't think you have fully gotten yours. But there are ways to change that." The grin was back, even wider than before. "Forgiveness has its prize. Sooner or later, you must pay it."
The hedge wall opened up to reveal a graveyard. Markers and slabs of what looked like stone were strewn around with no real sense of organization, with only a single tree in the center. Carefully, all five members of the group stepped into the clearing, the hedge already closing behind them.
The atmosphere was chilled, the fog waving between gravestones moving back and forth as if someone was breathing it in and out again. Only a few lanterns here and there gave a diffuse light, barely strengthened by the stars in the night sky.
In short, "This is awesome!" as so helpfully stated by Rainbow Dash.
"Ya gotta feel right at home, dontcha sugarcube?" Applejack teased her purple-haired friend, elbowing her gently. As a response, she only got an eyeroll half-hidden underneath the wide hat.
"You think they have a scare-attraction here?" Pinkie was looking back and forth faster than should be good for her neck, peeking between gravestones here and there. "Seems like a good place for that."
"If not, Flutters could just hang around for the next group."
The shy girl just made a small squeaking sound, hurrying to stay close to Rarity. This whole thing was only bearable because of her friends, if she were here alone…
"Shht! Girls… upfront!" AJ raised a fist to make sure her friends all stopped where they stood. They were approaching the exit, which was of course on the directly opposite side of the clearing, and just had started to round the tree. Which is why they only now saw the figure kneeling in front of it, with her back towards them.
The figure was bare-footed, indeed they seemed to be wearing too little for this time of year. White cloth went from the waist down, held together by red rope. From their head, a long veil obscured almost all facial features, before wrapping itself around the chest. The legs were clothed in what looked like an improvised long skirt, reminiscient of a wedding dress, though torn and dirty at the edges. Yet where there was no clothing, smooth cardinal red skin was revealed. This person, for the girls were sure it was not a prop, was kneeling in front of a gravestone.
The group stood and stared at them for a moment.
"… alright, do we leave or do we get closer?" Rainbow asked, her excitement showing that she really just wanted to do the latter. The responses ranged from giddy agreement from Pinkie to more reserved urging to continue away, with Fluttershy leaving Rarity to speak it out loud and only nodding heavily in support.
It fell to Applejack to decide. Her instincts wisely advised to simply go on, as her neck hair was already standing straighter than her barn. And yet…
It was Halloween. Being scared is why they entered this maze, right?
Fluttershy could only hum in despair as three of her friends slowly approached the veiled person. Rarity sighed, before taking the painted ghost's hand and leading her towards the tree as well. At a safe distance of course.
"Sooo, you come here often?" Applejack's only reason to not facepalm immediately was her costume. The whole thing had taken hours to prepare. What came next surprised her however.
"Can't say that I do. Haven't been here in, well, a couple of months." The voice was smooth and quiet. And it seemed so familiar. The veiled person turned towards the group, showing for one that is was definitely a woman, with the cloth covering her chest very formly. Her turning also revealed the texts carved into the stone in front of her.
"… That's kinda… morbid, isn't it." Rainbow mumbled, any excitement gone already. Indeed, all five of the group were looking downtrodden at the name of a person they had once called friend. A person they all had left alone.
"There is some dark irony in all this, yes." The young woman said evenly. "I guess it would be rather tasteless out of context, but it does have a reason to be here." With that she slowly raised herself and turned to fully face the group, lifting the veil away from her face. A few locks of crimson with yellow streak falling out. Clear cyan eyes beheld the people in front of her.
They looked back at her. There was recognition spread amonst them, some more than others. Interestingly, it was Fluttershy who first spoke up.
"You… We saw you with… with Aria!" There was no accusation, only slight shock in her voice. Next to her, Rarity nodded slowly.
"Wait, waddya mean?! Aria as in one of them Siren's!?" Applejack exclaimed loudly, looking between all the faces around her. She could only somewhat remember seeing that girl last Christmas Eve at Pinkie's, she certainly didn't remember a siren! To make it worse, only Rainbow seemed to be as lost as her.
"Neither of you are wrong with that. Aria is… around. You don't have to worry though, she is not up to anything malicious." The veiled woman spoke. "She is... giving us space to talk.
Five set of eyes were fixated on her. She fought against the wild feeling in her heart, the uncertainty. She had thought about this moment, ran a dozen different approaches. In the end, the simplest would hopefully be the best. And so she turned to the gravestone.
"It has been a long while since we last saw eachother. I hope you will understand that I needed time away. I… there is no easy way to put this." She swallowed. No turning back. She looked them all in the eyes. "I am… or was, your friend Sunset Shimmer."
"I think that sounded better in my head." She said akwardly at the five girls staring at her in disbelief. "So, sorry about that."
"This… you are joking, right? Dawn?" Pinkie said meekly. It didn't sound like a question. More like a plea.
"I'm afraid not, Pinkie." Sunset replied. "I know it makes little sense. And I am afraid this story is far from simple."
There was silence again. She could see tears starting to form on multiple faces. Fluttershy stood stiller than a statue, not even trembling, her eyes wide and shocked to the core. As she spoke, her voice was barely hearable. "H-h-ow? You… you d-died. I s-saw… you…"
"As I said, the story is rather complicated. But I can proof that it is me, if you want." Sunset smiled sadly at them.
They seemed unsure what to answer. Whether they wanted to see the proof of this revelation with all that came with it, or try to protect themselves in ignorance. But, ultimately, there was and never would be a going back to not-knowing. They had to know, they wanted to know, they simply were afraid of actually seeing it. A situation with no good path to take. She pondered, what would be the best thing to say to prove herself?
Rainbow Dash hesitated for a small moment, looking to her friends. "No, I… We, we believe you. So, it is truly you? Sunset?"
"Not… completely, I suppose." Sunset replied. She carefully sat down on the ground, motioning for the others to do the same. "You know pretty much all that happened in the week before Christmas. Uhm… to cut a complex thing short, there was a problem of… I guess conflicting magical residue in my body, held in conflict with eachother. With all the harassment that went around and people, y'know, taking it out on me the whole thing went volatile. That was why I… collapsed."
She spoke carefully, not wanting to rekindle painful memories of her breakdown. It was already somewhat uncomfortable for herself, she didn't want to cause even greater effects on the others. "On the bridge then, it all went critical. I… fell into the river and I guess… I actually died." The five girls were listening with rapt attention and wide eyes. Rarity was holding Fluttershy's hand. Rainbow couldn't keep her own still, while Pinkie seemed unusually stiff and motionless. Applejack had a grimace on her face that spoke of guilt and shame.
"And I know it sounds stupid. But I woke up again. I had changed. I am different." She sighed. This was probably the hardest part to tell them. "I… don't think I am Sunset anymore."
"What do you mean, darling? You are right here in front of us." Rarity sounded hopeful. Sad but yet so hopeful. In response, she lifted up one of her bare arms, showing the rich cardinal red where once there had been light amber.
"I emerged like this. I became different both in appearance and… other ways." They did not have to know. That now her body was not under normal restrictions anymore, that now it bowed to her will, that she could mold and change herself at will. It would not help them much, for now, it was not necessary. "And I was picked up by Aria Blaze. She took me in, sort of."
It spoke a lot about the heaviness of the news she brought them that none of them spoke out against the Siren. She hoped it was a good sign for things to come. Perhaps there would never be true friendship between the Siren and the Rainbooms, but Aria had managed to tolerate Pinkie. She may be able to accept the rest, and they her. But once again, something for later.
"I eventually managed to regain memories and realize who I was, or had been. I know it is painful to hear, but I don't think I can see myself as Sunset Shimmer anymore. I died and I am alive again. This, this feels like a new life." She could see the tears in their eyes. Tartarus, she could feel her own threaten to flow. She could stop them, simply force her tearducts close, yet she chose not too. It felt freeing to let the water flow freely. "I decided to take on a new name. Well, initially I just didn't remember who I was called. But, when it all became clear again, I decided to stay with it. So, now I am simply Dawn Fire"
"But… we can still be f-friends right?" Pinkie asked tentatively. Before Dawn could reply, Applejack spoke up. The farm girl was barely able to meet her gaze.
"Are ya… are you angry at us?" She asked quietly. "We abandoded ya, left when ya needed us most. Even if our reason mighta been completely justified, an' I don't think it is, we shoulda given you an actual chance."
For Dawn, there was little hesitation anymore. She had thought about it enough, talked and argued with Aria more than enough. She didn't want to feel the need for revenge, this consuming anger, never again.
"It has happened. I came to terms and moved past it. Hopefully you can do the same. I would like to help, if I can. I would like to be friends again." Dawn reached her hands out towards them. Pinkie was the first to grasp one of them, turning to clasp hands with Rarity next to her. One after the other, the girls joined in a circle until Dawn took Applejack's left hand. She squeezed slightly and gave a reassuring smile. They hesitated, but eventually all girls were smiling at eachother, even if they could not fully get rid of their tears.
"Maybe we can't go back to how things once were. But what we can do is go forward. And I would like to do that with all of you."
From her hiding place, Aria watched as the group finally exited the maze. They had spent nearly half an hour in the fake graveyard, talking and holding hands and generally being close with eachother. She had watched it all of course, her own business hadn't taken her nearly that long to miss any of the exchange. Seeing them all was… conflicting to say the least. The siren still had a strong displeasure towards most of the Rainbooms.
But, Dawn was trying to reach out to them, to once again form tender bonds of friendship. And Aria would not deny her friend.
She had certainly changed. But that could be thrown around at this point, afterall, they all had.
The group's exit was swift and relatively free of any more big scares. Having planned the maze between eachother, Dawn and Aria were rather familiar with the layout and could navigate it with little problem. Having controls for all the moving walls also certainly helped a lot. Dawn simply made sure that her group took enough time for Aria to exit before them as planned, since the Siren had told her that she would watch. The colour of an electric lantern near the exit served to show that Aria had left the maze.
Aria knew that Dawn felt some small guilt for planning something so "complexively extravagant" for, what she thought would be, a simple reunion. But convincing her had not been that difficult and once into planning, the young woman had shown great interest in making the maze a reality.
The exit wall slowly ground to a close, leaving the six girls to finally rejoin the festival activities. Immediately, they seperated with some going to either relieve themselves or finally acquire food and drink.
Aria had taken off her headpiece by now. Both because she didn't want three particular young girls to notice it from a mile away, and because it was rather constricting. Letting her hair flow free was more comfortable by far.
Her eyes were on Dawn like a hawk, watching her gently hold the shoulder of the quiet ghost girl, her lips moving as they talked about things. Of course, Aria was able to make out what the conversation was about, it was simply that she cared not enough in the moment.
Her concentration was only disturbed when she noticed someone approaching her directly. Still, she refused to look, for she now who was coming. Only when Pinkie was a couple feet away from the highly dressed siren did the mystical creature turn to look.
"Pinkie."
"Aria."
There was… a lot going on behind those hyperactive eyes. Remnants of the heavy revelation and the whirlwind of emotion that it had caused; there was sadness and guilt, happiness and careful hope. And now there was even some anger in the mix. For Pinkie, that was highly fascinating. The bubbly girl rarely held such anger.
"Are you here to be mad that I withheld her identity from you?" The pink girl was disarmed by this simple sentence. The siren could tell that her opponent was thinking about how to react, to deny it or to double down and press the issue. She restrained a smirk.
It did surprise her when Pinkie instead breathed out her tension and locked eyes. "Yes, of course. You can't fault me for that. I dunno what I would have done had I known, but I wish I hadn't had all these times meeting her and not knowing that was my friend there talking with me."
With a heavy sound, Pinkie slumped next to Aria onto the bench. From their point they could see much of the festival ground surrounding the maze's exit. The air was heavy with happy chatter and the noises of a merry event. Both of them could make out several people they knew either by sight or closer in the crowd. It was a full seven minutes until Pinkie spoke up again.
"From what Suns-… Dawn said, it was her choice. And I can't be angry at her for that." She turned to the Siren, a sworn nemesis just about a year ago. “I must thank you, Aria. You took Sunset in and cared for her. I am still conflicted about it, but I can't change it."
Aria met her eyes, nodding and giving a smile. It was small, but it was still genuine. Letting her gaze wander again, she saw three small figures off to the side, near the spot where Dawn and most of the Rainbooms were coming together again.
She pondered. Should she do it? It wouldn't serve any real purpose, she had already gotten the message across to the kids. Dawn would certainly tell her to leave it.
But, Dawn was not here. And Aria, despite everything, was a creature that enjoyed messing with people. This was a night of fright and games wasn't it? She had improved so much when with her friend, became what Dawn would call a 'better person'. She was entitled to some selfish enjoyment.
Aria glanced at Pinkie, who tried to busy herself with fixing up her costume. Was she really so petty, to destroy this moment of genuine acceptance and thankfulness by revealing the last little secret?
She was a siren. This? She would consider this the last piece of her revenge against the Rainbooms, for all they ever had done to her, and her sisters. One last act of pure pettiness, then she would join in step with Dawn's reconciliation. But now, now she would enjoy it to the fullest.
“Say.” She spoke casually, not even bothering to hide the smirk from adorning her face. “You never did manage to find out who this Anon-A-Bitch was, did you now?”
Pinkie immediately stopped. Slowly, she turned and looked directly at Aria. There was confusion written plainly on her face. In her eyes, Aria could see the girl's mind trying to understand the question, to understand the reason behind all this. Eventually she spoke, carefully. “No one ever did. The thing wasn’t really revelant for long, so people never really investigated properly.”
“Not relevant huh? I mean, maybe I am wrong but something that culminated in the death of one of the students would seem like pretty important to me. “ Aria spoke, her voice dripping in sarcasm. This felt too good, she knew. But now the ball was rolling already. She grinned widely. “But oh well, what do I know. Except the secret of it all. Looks like I have one over you.”
“You KNOW?! How? And who?!” Pinkie exploded, loud enough that people near the bench turned and looked at them. She ignored them however, eyes glued onto Aria.
The Siren just cackled for a moment, relishing in withholding the information for just that little bit longer.
“Ohohoh, so eager! Y’know, I am tempted to give you demands now, but I think I’ll pass on that. I will tell you. Out of the goodness of my heart.”
Her grin left what should be perceived as natural, widening to the point it began to resemble a shark. The view brought a shiver down Pinkie's spine. Then the Siren started to lean forward towards her, causing the pink girl to start leaning backwards herself. Yet Aria continued to get into her personal space, looming over her more and more. It was a threatening display. And then, once she deemed the tension to be at its maximum, the Siren went for the kill.
“It was your friend’s sisters. Missies Mute, Blind and Deaf over there.” One hand grabbed Pinkie's face and forcefully turned it. Aria had kept a sideways glance on the trio, who had not left the space near the maze exit. They had talked with eachother nervously, glancing over to their sisters now and again. “That little Brat-club has been behind all of this shit. Your stupid bandmates have certainly helped drive the dagger into poor Sunny’s heart, but the little monsters were the ones to craft it.”
Her voice was sweet and yet venomous, as she whispered into the other girl's ear.
“And here, as an additional courtesy. They did it because they were jealous. They wanted to spent more time with their sisters. Now, I don’t know that one for a fact, but I imagine the plan worked out for them in the end. Afterall, Sunny wasn’t really in a spot to take their sisters away from them once the whole thing was done.”
Pinkie couldn't take it anymore, she planted her hands squarely on Aria's shoulders and pushed her away. She succeeded, mostly because the other girl did not resist, instead sitting herself on the bench and leaning back victoriously. Pinkie stood up and stormed away, though only for a few feet before she stopped. Her eyes were staring at the CMC, then her friends. Eventually she spoke, her voice quiet and wavering. “So, this is your plan?”
She didn't have to look to hear Aria's cheshire grin. “You’re doubting me?”
“No. That is the problem.” Pinkie admitted. Tears were forming in her eyes again, but she tried to force them back. “Why lie, when you have the perfect truth? You get your petty revenge. Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash will be destroyed when they find out. To think that their own kin has caused all this. Fluttershy will be affected no matter who it had been; we will have to look out for her again, just to make sure she remains stable. And me?”
Pinkie huffed. “I’ll have to be the one to break it to them. To tell them to their faces who it really has been. And I have to, otherwise you will do it yourself. The perfect plan.”
“Myes. Ah, your face just now was all worth it, as petty as it may be. Sadly, I fear I will not be able to watch your friends despair over this newfound truth. Unless of course they find out today.” Aria stood up and casually strolled next to Pinkie, who immediately increased the distance between them. The Siren's next words however, still caught her off guard, as they held no sadistic joy but cold seriousness. “This is as much of a revenge that I will make for my sisters. True, we caused our own deaths in more than one way. But you and the Rainbooms still dealt the blow, so to speak, just like you helped in Dawn’s change. So consider this my official act of vengeance. Dawn wants to be friends with you again, and I will not stand in her way, but by her side.”
They stood there in silence for a few moments. Pinkie's hands were balled into fists, trembling. She started walking towards her friends again, trying to steel her resolve, but she once again stopped when Aria spoke up again. “Though, maybe you do not have to tell them. I spooked the three little idiots in the maze. If they are brave enough, they will come out on their own, so you don’t have to.”
In response she got a sad laugh from the usually chipper girl, as well as a glare from these usually so bright eyes. “Are you really asking me to be selfish here?”
“Just informing you.” Aria shrugged. “I have a few things against you, Pinkie Pie. But I also respect you, to a certain point atleast. And not just because of your siblings. They picked me up after the deaths of my own. They care for me. You do too, even though you have good personal reasons not to. And I care for them, even for you. Just a bit, but still. I think that might count for something. Afterall, you and your family took me in when I was in a bad condition. You looked past everything and even kept it a secret from your friends."
They stared into each other's face, one calm, the other agitated. Anger was slowly building up again inside the pink girl, as she looked at the one person she thought she could consider, if not a friend, a friendly aquaintance. Now, she didn't anymore.
"I don't understand you. First you tell me all this! Now you sound like you care about me?! What is your deal!?" She all but yelled at Aria.
The Siren didn't reply for multiple seconds, simply staring at her into the eyes. Now that she had gotten her satisfaction, her face showed none of her earlier smugness.
"Truth to be told: I am a petty, distasteful creature. I like to create conflict because I can and because I am good at it." Her gaze drifted away, observing the cardinal red figure talking with old friends. "But I feel that things are changing. Everybody is and I am not the exception. So, in a way, I wanted to make sure things are settled. I wanted that the three kids know that someone knows their secret, what they do with it is their choice. Deep in my heart, I still wanted to avenge my sisters. Now, this things are done. And Dawn will probably chew me out for it. But, I will still stay with her, and odds are good she is going to change me to the point that I won't do this sort of stuff for a long time, if ever again. So this was my last big act."
"I am honored that you chose us." Pinkie spat venomously. She turned and, without any more words, walked away towards her friends. Aria watched her go, feeling serene and gratified. And, perhaps, slightly guilty. That she was sure to suppress, drowning it in telling herself that now, they were even.
Observing Pinkie, she watched as the girl rejoined her friend group. They seemed to try and inquire about her downed mood, but the pink girl wouldn't tell. They talked, starting to move away from the entrance of the maze and further into the rest of the festival. Most of the Rainbooms didn't seem like they were ready to drop Pinkie's sudden attitude change, yet only Dawn kept stealing quick, knowing glances towards Aria. The Siren could feel disapproval in them.
She was about to call her friend over, when she spotted another group starting to move on their own. It was the CMC. Seeing their sisters walking away, it seemed the three young girls were racing to catch up to them. There was determination, but also fear in their eyes. Dawn noticed her friend's gaze stray from the Rainbooms and, following the look with her own eyes, she could also see the trio approaching. It wasn't much of a stretch to guess what might happen next, she had been informed of Aria's plan afterall. Neither of them had expected the girls to decide this fast however.
Tapping Applejack on the shoulder, Dawn notified the farm girl of her approaching sister and as the Rainbooms turned to the younglings, the fiery girl started to back into the crowd. Deftly she weaved between people until she came out right next to her Siren, turning to watch what was happening from a safe distance.
"I don't recall dumping the truth on Pinkie was part of the plan."
Aria suppressed a grimace. Her suppressed guilt was being roused by the chastising words of the friend besides her. How was it that she, a magical creature once so ruthless, could be made to feel sorry by simple words spoken by another person? Perhaps she had gone soft in these last months.
"Not that it matters much. Seems like they are actually going to confess it." Aria tried to pass off her actions, pointing towards the group that was being lead away from the crowd. The young girls had all taken off the bandages around their heads, sharing uncertain glances with eachother nearly every other second. Yet, they didn't bail out. Once far enough from anyone who could overhear, through normal means anyway, they all took a deep breath and faced their older siblings. Only two magical beings were capable of making out the essence of the exchange through their own special means.
Dawn didn't listen for very long, dismissing the enhancement on her ears to catch the girls' confession. She turned away, she didn't particularly want to see it all unfold. Surprisingly, Aria also turned away. They started to make their way further into the streets of vendors and food stands.
"This doesn't mean that you're off the hook." Dawn said. "Confession or not, you've only made it harder for yourself with them now. I doubt that Pinkie is going to keep quiet about you telling her. I don't know yet how strongly they will react to it, but it still was completely unnecessary."
Aria clenched her teeth to stop her cockish answer. Her friend was really starting to make her feel bad, and the worst part was it didn't seem like trying to change the topic would work this time.
Dawn sighed. "Not that I can change anything now. We are going to continue this conversation later but I really don't want to feel angry right now. This evening has been emotional enough, thank you."
Before rounding a corner, Dawn allowed herself a glance towards the Rainbooms. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were standing close to their respective siblings. From this distance, it still looked like a heated exchange of words, at the very least from the older girls. As expected. But, Dawn hoped, that eventually they could start to forgive their younger siblings.
True, things would never be the same again, but she of all people knew the importance of second chances and mending one's own ways. Especially after one had committed such a massive mistake. It would be up to them to see how they would deal with the situation, and how they would cope with the knowledge. Dawn could only offer to help as she was able to.
So, she walked in silence next to her partner.
Eventually, they arrived back to the massive stage, upon which Vynil and Octavia were still harmonizing and enchanting the crowd with their music. In fact, they seemed to be starting up another piece right now, its catchy rhythm already stirring up the dancing crowd before them into a movement again. Dawn couldn't stop her head from starting to nod with the bead, nor her expression to lighten up more and more. Next to her, Aria also allowed her body to move in tact with the music as it swelled.
"Hey, I think I can see Twilight and Sunny Flare over there." Dawn had spotted the two in the dancing crowd by their matching outfits. Old and rusty-looking pieces of armor were secured overflowing and transparent robes stained with dark splotches. Their faces painted to give them a ghastly appearance and thus complete the look of two wraiths. Yet the costumes could not hide the joy both held as they moved close together with the music, completely lost in the rhythm and their own movement.
"You wanna go dance a bit?" Aria playfully nudged her friend with an elbow. Two cyan eyes gave her an amused look with raised eyebrows, looking up and down at Aria's quite elegant and bulky looking costume. The Siren simply snorted and spoke again in an overly formal voice. "Apologies. Would my lady honor me with a dance?"
The red girl could not hold back her laughter at that, especially when the Siren gracefully curtesied in her costume and extended a hand towards the dance floor. Dawn skipped past her partner with a mirthful grin, Aria smiling after her, simply content to stand and watch her friend twirl and move with the tact of the music.
"What are you waiting for?" Dawn called as she half-turned, smiling and gesturing the other girl to follow.
Aria quickly caught up to her partner and, together, they entered the moving mass of bodies, heading straight to their friends.
Who cared if she was actually going soft?
She didn't, as long as she got more opportunities to make the girl smile, or laugh.
Being petty and vengeful hadn't ever brought her more than this.
It had only given her short moments of satisfaction, but in the end it had cost her too much.
So maybe she was losing herself as a Siren, defying what she had been intended to be and very much so been for longer than she cared to remember.
